A  N  i  i !  b'')  0  U ■  >  ■ ;  ; ,  .  1,K  n  >i  ■ 

1ST  3-19  O  » 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
DURHAM,  N.  C. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/etaprimeofkappas01wins 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 
1873-1908 


Being  a  Short  Narrative  of  Kappa  Sigma's  Career  at 
Old  Trinity,  with  An  Account  of  the  Fraternity 
at  New  Trinity  to  the  Present  Time 


By 

JOHN  COOPER  WINSLOW 

V 


*  C 

Published  by  the  Chapter  under  the  Supervision  of 
its  Committee,  who  wish  hereby  to  acknowledge 
Indebtedness  for  Editorial  Assistance. 

Luther  Gkhrmann  White,  '08. 

John  Cooper  Winslow,  '08. 
•John  Reuben  Woodard,  Jr.,  '06. 


DURHAM,  N.  C. 
Press  of  The  Seeman  Printery 
1908 


•37/. 


IN  MEMORiAM 

WILLIAM  MOSELEY  SMITH 

SON  OF 

Rev.  THOMAS  WALTER  AND  MARY  HUBBARD  SMITH 


Prepared  at  Concord  <N.  C.)  High  School;  Entered  Trinity 
College  September,  1902;  Member  of  Columbian  Literary 
Society,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Tombs,  Kappa  Sigma  Fraternity; 
Assistant  Baseball  Manager  1902-3;  Member  of  Base- 
ball Team  1903-4,  1904-5,  1905-6,  1906-7;  Captain 
of   Baseball    Team    1905-6,    1906-7;  Business 
Manager  of  Trinity  Archive  1905-6;  President 
of  Senior  Class  1905-6;  Received  Degree  of 
B.  A.  1905-6;  Business  Manager  of  South 
Atlantic    Quarterly  1906-7;  Received 
Degree  of  M.  A.  1906-7.  .'. 


BORN  CONCORD,  N.  C,  OCTOBER  2,1884. 
DIED  DURHAM,  N.  C,  JUNE  27,  1907. 


PREFACE 


In  an  issue  of  the  Star  and  Crescent,  March,  1906, 
a  suggestion  appeared  that  the  early  history  of  Eta 
Prime  would  afford  a  fertile  field  for  investigation. 
Acting  upon  this  suggestion,  the  Chapter,  late  in  the 
session  of  1905-6,  made  me  Historian.  Eta  Prime 
existed  at  Old  Trinity  under  its  old  name  Eta  from 
1873  to  1879,  then  became  inactive,  and  was  revived  at 
Trinity,  Durham,  N.  C,  in  1892.  Under  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Chapter,  I  considered  my  work  as  Histo- 
rian finished,  when  the  period  at  Old  Trinity  had 
been  written  up  and  published  in  pamphlet  form. 
This  pamphlet  came  from  the  press  on  December  14, 
1907. 

Under  the  unwonted  stress  of  a  sudden  and  acute 
attack  of  nervous  prostration,  our  esteemed  friend 
and  brother,  William  Moseley  Smith,  took  his  own 
life,  June  27,  1907.  He  was  an  exceedingly  close 
friend  to  me  and  to  other  members  of  this  Chapter, 
and  he  was  our  representative  at  the  Grand  Conclave, 
Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  in  1906.  While  in  college 
he  exerted  a  peculiarly  potent  and  wholesome  influ- 
ence throughout  tHe  entire  community,  being  promi- 
nent especially  in  athletic  circles.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  present  session,  1907-8,  the  idea  of  a  memorial 
to  him  lay  deep  in  the  hearts  of  us  all.  On  this  ac- 
count, with  considerable  aid  from  other  members  of 
the  Chapter,  I  have  continued  this  sketch  of  Eta 
Prime's  history  to  the  present  time,  actuated  in  the 
later  period  almost  wholly  by  the  hope  that  through 
it  his  memory  might  be  suitably  honored  by  me  and 


v 


vi 


Preface. 


the  other  members  of  this  Chapter.  I  say,  without 
the  slightest  hesitation,  that  it  has  been  a  work  of 
the  deepest  love  of  man  for  man. 

By  way  of  acknowledgments,  I  wish  to  say  that 
Brother  John  R.  Woodard,  Jr.,  has  cheerfully  ren- 
dered me  indispensable  aid  from  the  beginning  of  my 
undertaking.  Also,  in  the  later  part,  I  iam  under  very 
deep  obligations  to  Brother  Gilmer  Korner,  Jr.  To 
Brother  Russell  D.  Korner,  I  am  indebted  for  exceed- 
ingly efficient  stenographic  work.  To  all  others  who 
have  helped  me  in  any  way,  I  return  my  heartfelt 
gratitude. 

John  Cooper  Winslow,  '08. 
Trinity  College,  Durham,  N.  C,  March  19,  1908. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

A  Teibute    xiii 

An  Appreciation   xv 

Founding  of  the  Original  Eta  Chapter   1 

Policy  of  the  New  Chapter   5 

Early  Relations  Between  Zeta  and  the  Old  Eta  8 

Trinity  College  in  the  Seventies   9 

Growth  and  Prosperity  of  the  Chapter   16 

Eta  Prime  During  the  Session  of  1878-9   18 

The  Disbanding  of  the  Chapter   22 

The  Inception  of  the  "Devil's  Thirteen"   25 

The  "Owls"    28 

Activities  Previous  to  Re-establishment   30 

Semi-Sub  Rosa  Status  of  Fraternities   40 

Establishment  of  Alpha-Mu   44 

Action  of  Board  of  Trustees   46 

New  Arrivals    48 

Beta  Upsilon    49 

Non-Fraternity  Activities    49 

Theta  Nu  Epsilon   52 

Meetings  of  District  IV   53 

Letters  to  Alumni   55 

Commencement  Banquets    55 

Chapter  Roll    61 


vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


William  Moseley  Smith. 
Facsimile  of  Eta  Pbime's  Fibst  Chaeteb. 
Foundeb  and  Chabteb  Membebs. 
Membebs  at  Old  Tbinity. 
Membebs  at  Old  Tbinity.  ' 
Membebs  at  Old  Tbinity. 
The  "Owls." 
Chapteb  Gboup  1907-8. 


ix 


William  Moseley  Smith 


He  did  good  just  by  living. 
To  his  friends  he  imparted  courage  and  inspiration. 
To  his  teachers  he  accorded  a  cheerful  responsiveness. 
To  his  college  he  gave  unreserved  loyalty. 


xi 


A  TRIBUTE 


Oh,  Friend  and  Shade,  afar — yet  near, 

Whose  presence  mem'ry  makes  so  real, 
Unfathomed  spaces  twixt  us  set, 

And  yet  I  speak  to  you  and  feel 
As  one  who  talks  to  bosom  friend 

Who  walks  beside  him  in  the  night, 
Whose  voice  is  heard,  whose  face  unseen, 

Whose  nearness  is  like  gleam  and  light. 

The  springtide  days  are  done,  the  life 

All  prized  so  highly,  spent,  but  when 
I  hear  these  many  friends 

Speak  soft  your  name,  it  seems  again 
You  live  and  with  us  move  and  work. 

That  blinding  thought  that  numbed  your  brain, 
That  hand  all  sick  and  weary  and  its  deed — 

'Tis  all  forgot!    And  God  does  reign! 

Within  your  days,  within  your  life, 

There  burned  a  pure  and  holy  flame; 
A  thousand  loves  encircled  round 

Your  being,  friends  that  called  your  name 
With  smiles.    So  short  a  span  of  days! 

I  would  more  lived  as  honest  and 
As  brave  a  life.    And  these  are  blessed 

Who  knew  you  in  our  honored  band. 

I  think  from  out  that  high  dim  world, 

Your  spirit  eyes  these  pages  see, 
You  know  the  love  that  wrought  the  work 

We  hallow  to  your  memory. 
Oh  weak  memorial  that  we  bring, 

Yet  penned  in  strength  and  courage  true, 
Because  your  spirit  penetrates 

And  breathes  these  proffered  pages  through. 

A.  Sabtor  Berghauseb,  '08. 
xiii 


AN  APPRECIATION 


Trinity  College  has  suffered  greatly  in  recent  years 
from  the  untimely  death  of  some  of  her  most  loyal 
and  promising  alumni.  The  latest  of  these,  and  the 
youngest,  was  William  M.  Smith,  whose  tragic  death 
cast  a  gloom  over  the  college  community.  While  he 
had  not  had  time  to  give  evidence  of  such  ability  as 
Avery,  Flowers,  and  Bivins  displayed  in  various  ways, 
all  who  knew  him  in  college  looked  forward  with  con- 
fidence to  a  life  of  genuine,  and  even  brilliant,  success. 
As  he  had  settled  down  to  business  in  Durham,  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  would  have  been 
one  of  the  most  active  of  the  local  alumni,  vitally  in- 
terested in  the  future  work  and  plans  of  the  institu- 
tion. 

This  confidence  in  his  future  was  based  upon  the  fact 
that  he  had  for  five  years  displayed  unusual  qualities 
of  leadership  in  college  life.  He  was,  first  of  all,  a 
faithful  and  successful  student.  He  was  not  a  "grind," 
nor  a  pedant,  but  he  realized  that  his  main  business  in 
college  was  to  get  an  education ;  he  did  not  look  upon 
class-room  work  as  an  incident,  although  he  was  prom- 
inent in  all  departments  of  college  life.  His  teachers 
recall  that  in  the  full  tide  of  a  baseball  season  he 
kept  up  his  work  surprisingly  well.  He  knew  how  to 
concentrate  his  mind  on  the  work  in  hand.  His 
answers  were  always  definite,  clear-cut,  incisive;  he 
did  not  get  everything,  but  what  he  got  he  mastered. 
On   class   he   was    always   attentive,  open-minded, 


y.v 


xvi  An  Appreciation. 

appreciative.  He  graduated  cum  laude,  missing  magna 
cum  laude  by  only  a  fraction  of  a  point.  His  coming 
back  to  take  his  M.  A.  degree  was  a  manifestation  of 
his  desire  for  better  training.  Some  of  his  best  work 
was  done  during  his  graduate  year.  The  best  exami- 
nation paper  he  ever  wrote  for  me  was  his  last. 

His  success  in  class-room  work  gave  additional  em- 
phasis to  his  leadership  in  other  fields  of  college  life. 
He  was  an  integral  member  of  a  community  upon 
whose  life,  traditions  and  ideals  he  exercised  a  forma- 
tive influence.  He  was,  as  this  volume  dedicated  to 
his  memory  so  well  shows,  one  of  the  leaders  in  his 
fraternity.  He  must  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the  two  or 
three  men  who  did  most  to  put  the  fraternity  upon  its 
present  prosperous  course.  Such  leaders  are  of  incal- 
culable service  to  a  college ;  they  become  the  most  valu- 
able allies  of  the  college  administration  in  maintain- 
ing the  proper  ideals  of  student  life. 

Smith  was,  of  course,  most  widely  known  as  an 
athlete.  It  is  a  commonplace  to  say  that  the  college 
never  had  a  better  shortstop  or  captain.  His  brilliant 
plays  on  the  diamond  are  part  of  our  athletic  history- 
As  captain  for  two  years  he  won  the  admiration  of 
his  team  and  the  respect  of  all  who  opposed  him  on 
the  field.  He  was  not  a  loud  talker,  nor  one  who  was 
likely  to  antagonize  an  opposing  team,  but  when 
situations  demanded  he  could  be  firm  and  decisive. 
His  true  character  was  most  evident  when  he  was  ral- 
lying his  team  from  apparent  defeat.  However,  it  is 
not  as  an  individual  player  or  as  captain  that  he  will 
have  his  permanent  place  in  the  history  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege. He  must  be  counted  along  with  Bradsher  as  one 
who  did  a  great  deal  to  support  the  athletic  manage- 
ment in  its  insistence  upon  athletic  reform.  There  are 
times  when  any  student  body  will  grow  restive  under 
strict  regulations,  especially  when  it  is  impossible  to 


An  Appreciation. 


xvii 


get  games  with  rival  colleges,  but  not  a  word  of  dis- 
loyalty ever  came  from  either  of  these  captains ;  on  the 
other  hand,  both  of  them  gave  the  weight  of  their  in- 
fluence to  the  cause  of  pure  athletics.  Many  will  recall 
the  speech  made  by  Smith  at  the  beginning  of  last  year 
at  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  banquet,  when  he  stated  with 
much  emphasis  and  real  convincing  power  his  belief 
in  the  policy  to  which  the  athletic  management  was 
committed. 

This  incident  suggests  also  that  Smith  was  a  posi- 
tive force  in  the  religious  life  of  the  community.  He 
was  not  only  a  member  and  at  one  time  an  officer  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  but  he  was  a  regular  attendant  at 
President  Kilgo's  "class-meeting."  There  was  in  his 
religious  faith  the  same  positiveness  of  conviction,  the 
same  manly  spirit,  that  we  have  noted  in  other  phases 
of  his  character.  Though  he  was  not  one  of  the  most 
active  workers  in  the  annual  revival  meetings,  he  did 
work  in  private  with  his  friends  that  few  ever  knew 
about.  In  a  college  community  where  there  is  an 
almost  inevitable  cleavage  between  two  distinct  types 
of  men — sometimes  called  saints  and  sports — it 
means  much  to  have  a  man  like  Smith  who  combines 
with  good  fellowship  and  jovial  participation  in  all 
forms  of  athletic  and  social  life,  genuine  piety  and  de- 
votion. He  was  an  aggressive  force  for  righteous  liv- 
ing. 

One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  his  power  of  leader- 
ship was  his  management  of  the  banquet  given  by  stu- 
dents of  Trinity  College  to  the  delegates  from  other 
institutions  at  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
Convention  held  here  in  the  spring  of  1907.  Smith  was 
requested  to  take  in  hand  the  management  of  the 
banquet.  Securing  the  cooperation  of  two  or  three  of 
his  best  friends,  he  went  to  work  and  within  one  day 
put  through  one  of  the  most  successful  banquets  ever 


xviii 


An  Appreciation. 


held  at  Trinity  College.  Disappointed  by  the  failure 
of  servants  to  appear,  he  put  on  an  apron  and  himself 
served  the  cream  from  the  kitchen,  and  then  came  into 
the  main  banquet  hall  and  led  the  cheering.  Certainly 
no  more  delightful  occasion  was  ever  held  here,  and 
much  of  its  success  was  due  to  Smith's  industry,  com- 
mon sense  and  good  cheer. 

This  same  spirit  of  business-like  leadership  was  evi- 
denced in  his  management  of  the  Archive.  At  the 
time  when  the  Chronicle  had  just  been  started,  and 
some  said  that  the  Archive  might  suffer  by  reason  of 
the  division  of  advertising,  he  managed  it  with  con- 
summate success.  During  his  graduate  year  he  was 
business  manager  of  the  South  Atlantic  Quarterly, 
and  proved  himself  to  be  a  most  efficient  worker. 
Whether  handling  the  correspondence,  or  sending  out 
the  magazines,  or  soliciting  subscribers  from  this 
State  and  others,  he  was  eminently  successful.  He 
never  returned  from  one  of  his  trips  without  a  good 
batch  of  subscribers.  The  work  that  he  did  will  be 
of  permanent  good,  and  he  must  be  counted  among 
those  who  have  done  most  to  extend  the  influence  of 
the  magazine. 

It  was  in  association  with  him  in  this  last  named 
work  that  I  learned  to  know  Smith  most  intimately. 
As  a  member  of  the  Faculty  I  had  felt  the  truth  of 
all  the  points  that  have  here  been  made;  but  my  ad- 
miration for  him  was  enhanced  when  I  came  to  know 
him  as  a  friend  and  companion.  There  was  no  disillu- 
sionment. No  one  ever  knew  him  intimately  without 
feeling  the  charm  of  his  personality  and  the  nobility  of 
his  character.  There  was  a  fascination  about  him  that 
made  him  a  leader  in  the  college  community  as  well  as 
the  hero  of  the  little  boys  that  played  on  the  campus. 
His  smiling  face,  his  cheery  voice,  his  buoyant  faith, 
his  masterfulness  in  everything  he  undertook,  his 


An  Appreciation.  xix 

warmth  of  friendship, — all  these  are  among  ttie  sacred 
inheritances  of  those  who  knew  him  intimately.  And 
therefore  it  was  with  the  most  poignant  regret  that  I 
read  in  a  newspaper  in  a  Western  State  last  summer 
the  sad  account  of  his  death.  Time  has  not  lessened 
this  regret.  It  is  with  peculiar  joy  that  I  contem- 
plate this  volume  dedicated  to  his  memory. 

Edwin  Mims, 
Professor  of  English  Literature,  Trinity  College. 


77  a-   tf^^L  o>-  ^^4cCZ&l> 


Facsimile  of  Zeta's  Authorization  to  James  Henry  Durham  for  the 
Establishment  of  the  Trinity  Chapter. 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 


The  facsimile  which  appears  opposite  is  of  an 
original  document  in  possession  of  Eta  Prime, 
and  represents  the  first  written  authority  upon 
which  a  Chapter  of  Kappa  Sigma  was  ever  estab- 
lished. Beta  Chapter  at  the  University  of  Ala- 
bama had  been  established  in  1871,  preceding 
Eta  Prime  by  two  years;  but,  while  this  act  was 
authorized  by  vote  of  Zeta  Chapter,  no  written 
charter  was  ever  issued,  and  the  Chapter  was 
short-lived.*  This  was  in  the  days  when  the 
power  to  govern  Kappa  Sigma  lay  entirely  in 
Zeta,  then  the  Grand  Chapter,  before  this  office 
was  abolished  at  the  Grand  Conclave  at  Rich- 
mond in  1878.  The  name  Eta  remained  to  the 
Trinity  Chapter  until  1879,  when  all  chapters  at 
Trinity  were  disbanded.  In  1888  this  name  was 
given  to  the  chapter  which  was  established  in 
that  year  at  Randolph-Macon  College.  Accord- 
ingly then,  when  the  original  Eta  was  restored  in 

•"The  second  Chapter  of  this  name  (Beta)  was  located  at 
Mercer  University,  Macon,  Ga.,  and  was  the  offspring  of  H. 
Chapter,  being  established  by  Dr.  W.  A.  Thomas,  of  Bartow, 
then  of  Davisboro,  Ga.  Founded  sometime  in  1875." — OLD 
CATALOGUE,  pub.  1886.  The  Chapter  at  the  University  of 
Alabama  being  re-established  in  1891  under  its  old  name  Beta, 
the  name  of  the  Chapter  at  Mercer  University  was  changed  to 
Alpha-Beta,  by  which  name  it  is  now  known. 


2 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


1892,  to  prevent  confusion  and  at  the  same  time 
allow  the  revived  Chapter  to  retain  as  much  as 
possible  of  the  old  name,  Brother  F.  K.  Farr, 
who  was  W.  G.  M.  C.  at  that  time,  suggested 
that  the  Trinity  Chapter  be  known  as  Eta  Prime. 
The  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  thus  the  first 
permanent  offspring  of  Zeta  Chapter  again  be- 
came marked  for  particular  notice. 

Another  peculiar  fact  with  reference  to  this 
third  oldest  Chapter  of  the  Kappa  Sigma  Frater- 
nity is  that  all  the  advances  came  from  the  fra- 
ternity. However,  such  procedure  was  then 
common  among  college  fraternities,  especially 
in  the  South.  The  men  at  Trinity  that  became 
charter  members  had  never  petitioned  any  fra- 
ternity for  a  charter,  and  were  practically  unor- 
ganized at  the  time  of  their  initiation.  Brother 
James  Henry  Durham,  the  founder  of  the  Chap- 
ter, says  that  there  were  no  negotiations  between 


FOUNDING  OF       Zeta  Chapter,  at  the  University 


established  the  Trinity  Chapter  in  1873. 

Among  the  active  members  of  Zeta  Chapter, 
during  the  session  1872-73,  were  at  least  four 
North  Carolinians,  Brothers  Samuel  Macon 
Smith,  James  Henry  Durham,  Francis  Irwin  Os- 
borne, and  Thomas  Wright  Strange,  together 
with  Brother  Steven  Alonzo  Jackson,  "the  gol- 


any  member  or  members  of 


THE  ORIGINAL 
ETA  CHAPTER 


of  Virginia,  and  any  students 
at  Trinity  College  when  he 


Founding  of  Original  Eta  Chapter.  3 

den-hearted  Virginian,"  who  was  the  most  active 
member  of  the  Chapter  during  that  session.  It  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  suggestion  of  the 
founding  of  the  Chapter  at  Trinity  College  came 
from  one  of  these.  At  this  time  the  fraternities 
at  the  University  of  Virginia  were  especially  dis- 
posed to  branch  out  and  establish  chapters  at 
other  colleges.  The  Alpha  Tau  Omega  Fra- 
ternity in  particular  was  thought  to  be  contem- 
plating the  establishment  of  a  chapter  at  Trinity 
College  (Alpha  Tau  Omega  had  been  established 
at  Trinity  during  the  session  of  1871-72,  but 
this  fact  was  not  generally  known  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Virginia),  and  so  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Kappa  Sigma  Fraternity,  knowing  that 
Brother  Durham  had  been  a  student  at  Trinity 
for  two  years,  suggested  at  one  of  their  informal 
meetings,  that,  as  Brother  Durham  was  going 
home  to  Wilmington,  N.  C,  in  a  few  days,  he  go 
by  Trinity  and  establish  this  Chapter;  which  he 
did,  having  provided  himself  with  the  necessary 
authority  from  Zeta  Chapter. 

Brother  Durham  arrived  at  Trinity,  February 
28,  1873,  on  the  morning  mail-stage  and  stayed 
at  the  College  only  a  part  of  one  day  and  night, 
finding  very  few  of  the  boys  there  whom  he  had 
known  two  years  before.  He  did  find  one  of  his 
former  classmates,  however,  Adolphus  Richard 
Wortham,  of  the  Junior  Class,  with  whom  he  had 
been  intimately  associated  during  the  whole  of 


4 


Eta  Pkime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


his  college  life  there.  Brothers  Durham  and 
Wortham  had  been  together  one  session  in  the 
preparatory  department  and  one  session  in  the 
college  as  freshmen.  Brother  Wortham's  room 
became  Brother  Durham's  headquarters  and  his 
roommate,  Thomas  Taylor,  was  promptly  intro- 
duced to  Kappa  Sigma' s  representative  and  con- 
sulted as  to  the  propriety  of  including  a  third 
party  in  the  rites  and  ceremony  of  the  Trinity 
Chapter  at  its  inception.  They  finally  decided  to 
include  a  third  person,  but  to  extend  the  invita- 
tion no  further,  because  the  day's  proceedings 
were  necessarily  hurried  and  the  elected  ones 
wanted  time  to  deliberate.  Brother  Taylor  was 
at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Freshman  Class, 
having  entered  Trinity  from  Granville  County 
some  two  or  three  weeks  before,  about  February 
1st,  as  a  total  stranger,  and  had  been  invited  to 
room  with  Brother  Wortham  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  Brother  Wortham's  married  sister, 
who  lived  close  to  Brother  Taylor's  home. 

The  other  member  of  the  trio  initiated  by 
Brother  Durham  was  a  freshman,  Ned  H. 
Tucker,  taking  the  scientific  course,  who  was 
boarding  at  the  same  place  with  Brother  Wor- 
tham and  who  was  Brother  Wortham's  warm 
personal  friend.  Brother  Tucker  was  a  native  of 
Iredell  County,  N.  C,  and,  as  an  old  chapter-mate 
of  his  says,  "was  a  fine  man."  Brothers  Wor- 
tham, Taylor,  and  Tucker,  all,  were  members  of 


Policy  of  the  New  Chapter. 


5 


the  Hesperian  Literary  Society,  of  which  society 
Brother  Durham  had  also  been  a  member;  so 
that  night  they  were  taken  to  the  Hesperian  Hall, 
duly  initiated  and  appointed  to  offices  as  follows : 
Adolphus  Richard  Wortham,  G.  M.;  Thomas 
Taylor,  G.  M.  C. ;  and  Ned  H.  Tucker,  G.  S. 
No  one  of  these  can  properly  be  called  the  first 
initiate,  because  Brother  Durham  administered 
the  oath,  delivered  his  instructions  from  Zeta 
Chapter,  and  outlined  the  fraternity  work  to 
them  all  at  the  same  time.  All  this  was  done, 
though,  only  after  Brother  Durham  had  obtained 
permission  from  Dr.  Craven,  president  of  the 
college,  for  the  existence  and  legitimate  growth 
of  the  new  Chapter. 

At  that  time  Trinity  College  was  located  at  the 
small  village  of  Trinity,  Randolph  County,  N.  C, 
five  miles  from  High  Point,  and  had  about  two 


duced  in  1871,  and  Alpha  Tau  Omega  in  1872. 
Kappa  Sigma  was  not  introduced  in  opposition 
to  these  fraternities  in  any  sense,  but  because  it 
was  recognized  that  there  was  room  in  college  for 
another.  Neither  Brother  Wortham,  nor  Taylor, 
nor  Tucker  was  a  member  of  any  fraternity  or 
club  at  the  time  of  his  initiation  except  that  each 
was  a  member  of  the  Hesperian  Literary  Society. 
On  account  of  the  high  standing  of  the  charter 


POLICY  OF  THE 
NEW  CHAPTER 


hundred  matriculates.  There 
were  already  two  fraternities 
at    Trinity — Chi    Phi,  intro- 


6 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


members  of  the  new  Chapter  there  was  no 
trouble  in  getting  good  men  to  join,  and  in  a 
short  time  there  were  some  ten  or  twelve  of  the 
best  men  in  college  associated  with  them.  The 
policy  of  this  Chapter  from  the  very  first  was  to 
exercise  the  greatest  care  in  the  selection  of  the 
very  best  men  and  to  solicit  only  those  who  were 
of  the  highest  moral  and  social  standard.  The 
Chapter's  members  were  expected  to  aid  in  the 
development  of  a  high  type  of  life  in  the  college, 
and  so  to  conduct  themselves  that  the  words 
Kappa  Sigma  and  gentlemen  should  be  synony- 
mous. For  this  reason  the  Chapter  met  with  a 
most  cordial  reception  from  both  Faculty  and  stu- 
dents. For  some  time  the  Chapter's  meetings 
were  held  in  the  Hesperian  Hall,  but  afterwards 
changed  to  a  room,  in  the  main  college  build- 
ing, which  was  set  apart  for  the  fraternity's  use. 
This  room  was  on  the  third  floor,  in  the  south- 
east corner,  directly  opposite  the  Chi  Phi  room. 
These  two  fraternities,  therefore,  agreed  never  to 
meet  on  the  same  night,  and,  in  case  of  call-meet- 
ings for  the  same  night,  the  fraternity  that  posted 
its  notice  first  on  the  bulletin  board  should  have 
precedence. 

At  the  time  of  Kappa  Sigma's  advent,  Trinity 
College  was  practically  a  new  field  for  fra- 
ternities. Chi  Phi  was  then  considered  to  have 
the  ranking  chapter  in  the  college,  but  there 
were  quite  a  number  of  first-rate  men  who  had 


Policy  of  the  New  Chapter. 


7 


no  fraternal  obligations  whatever.  The  charter 
members  of  the  old  Eta  proceeded  with  conserva- 
tive enthusiasm  and  found  their  way  open  to 
Chapter  success.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
at  this  time  the  old  Eta  and  Zeta  really  composed 
the  entire  Kappa  Sigma  Fraternity.  Realizing 
that  the  Chapter  must  stand  almost  unaided,  and 
that  their  future  work  must  be  purely  construc- 
tive, the  charter  members  of  the  old  Eta  disre- 
garded all  except  the  surest  foundation.  It  is  a 
noteworthy  fact  that,  while  no  seniors  were  ini- 
tiated during  this  first  session,  five  out  of  the  nine 
men  who  composed  the  Chapter  during  the  spring 
of  '73  became  college  graduates. 

After  the  accomplishment  of  his  mission  at 
Trinity,  Brother  Durham  proceeded  to  Wilming- 
ton, N.  C,  and  soon  returned  to  the  University 
of  Virginia.  The  fraternity  continued  its  policy 
of  extension,  so  that  seven  more  chapters  were 
established  before  the  disbanding  of  the  Chapter 
at  Trinity  College  in  1879.  Before  the  disband- 
ing of  the  old  Eta  Chapter  in  the  fall  of  1879, 
there  was  no  medium  of  communication  among 
the  chapters  except  by  private  letter — The  Kappa 
Sigma  Quarterly,  the  first  Kappa  Sigma  maga- 
zine, not  being  established  until  the  Lynchburg 
Conclave  in  1885.  At  this  time  all  chapters  re- 
ported regularly  to  Zeta  Chapter  or  to  the  Su- 
preme Executive  Committee,  but,  when  the  gen- 
eral magazine  was  started  in  1885,  this  custom 


8  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


was  dropped  and  chapter  letters  were  substi- 
tuted. Brother  Thomas  Taylor  does  not  remem- 
ber that  any  Kappa  Sigma  from  another  chapter 
ever  visited  the  Trinity  Chapter  after  Brother 
Durham  founded  it,  but  a  voluminous  corre- 
spondence was  kept  up  with  the  mother  chapter. 

With  no  manual  of  college  fraternities  and  the 
whole  fraternity  system  veiled,  as  it  were,  in 
mystery,  there  was  no  general  knowledge  of  the 
college  fraternity,  especially  in 

EARLY  RELA= 

TIONS  BETWEEN  tne  South.  The  mother  chap- 
ZETA  AND  THE  ter's  relations  with  the  old  Eta 
were  probably  always  cordial, 
but  never  intimate.  Out  of  the  early  records  of 
the  Trinity  Chapter,  most  of  which  have  been 
lost,  the  old  constitution  and  initiation  ceremony 
have  been  preserved,  together  with  the  following 
greetings,  from  Zeta,  all  in  manuscript:  "The 
makers  of  our  badge  are  Samuel  Kirk  and  Sons, 
No.  72  Bait  St.,  Baltimore,  Md.  Their  price  is 
$8.00  [covered  with  $15.00  in  pencil]  each.  The 
getting  of  the  badge  is  of  course  optional,  but  it 
would  be  best  for  every  member  to  have  one. 
The  Z  chapter  will  always  give  you  their  best 
wishes  and  hearty  cooperation,  and  would  now 
bid  you  Godspeed  and  go  on  building  up  the 
Chapter  in  your  college  which  shall  be  second  to 
none  in  the  fraternity.  As  soon  as  you  have 
framed  your  by-laws  you  will  send  a  copy  of 
them  to  Goodwin  H.  Williams,  University  of 


FOUNDER  AND  CHARTER  MEMBERS 

James  Henry  Durham  Adolphus  Richard  Wortham 

Thomas  Taylor  Ned  H.  Tucker 


Trinity  College  in  the  Seventies.  9 


Virginia,  to  meet  the  approval  of  Z  chap;  your 
mother  chapter.  We  will  always  be  glad  to  give 
you  any  information  in  our  power  which  you 
may  desire.  Yrs.  in  K.  S.,  S.  M.  Smith,  Univer- 
sity of  Virginia." 

In  the  seventies,  Trinity  College  was  a  church 
school  of  very  meager  resources;  in  fact,  it  was 
understood  to  be  rather  deeply  in  debt,  though 


large  building,  containing  lecture  rooms,  chapel, 
offices  and  society  halls.  This  was  situated  in  a 
beautiful  forest  country  and  was  the  nucleus  of  a 
village  of  about  three  hundred  people,  composed 
mainly  of  the  families  of  the  professors  and  their 
kinspeople.  This  was  considered  a  good-sized 
village,  for  the  towns  in  North  Carolina  at  that 
time  were  so  few  and  so  small  that  a  person's 
place  of  residence  was  usually  designated  by  the 
county  in  which  he  lived.  There  was  no  regular 
library  during  the  whole  history  of  the  college  in 
Randolph  County,  nor  was  there  a  gymnasium 
1  until  late  in  the  seventies.  The  college  had  no 
dormitory  facilities,  so  the  students  roomed  and 
boarded  in  private  families  or  at  small  -hotels 
run  as  private  enterprises.  The  institution  was 
not  coeducational,  but  some  of  the  young  ladies 
of  the  immediate  vicinity,  of  whom  there  were 


TRINITY  COL= 
LEGE  IN  THE 
SEVENTIES 


not  embarrassingly  so,  and  was 
composed  of  three  depart- 
ments, preparatory,  law  and 
academic.   There  was  only  one 


10  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


very  few,  were  educated  there.  It  offered  no 
graduate  courses,  but  conferred  the  degree  of 
M.  A.  regularly,  as  an  honorary  degree,  and, 
occasionally,  for  the  completion  of  an  unusually 
large  amount  of  undergraduate  work.  Although 
the  grade  of  the  institution  steadily  improved  dur- 
ing this  time,  its  enrollment  as  steadily  decreased, 
until  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighties  it  amounted 
to  barely  more  than  a  hundred. 

What  circumstances  led  to  the  introduction  of 
the  college  fraternity  system  at  Trinity,  and  in 
what  spirit  this  introduction  took  place  is  uncer- 
tain, but  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  the 
opportunity  to  inaugurate  Kappa  Sigma  there 
came  as  a  pleasant  surprise  to  the  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  old  Eta.  Nor  did  the  occasion  and 
the  opportunity  ever  come  together  more  happily. 
The  close  association  of  Trinity  students,  living 
so  much  together,  and  away  from  other  than  the 
college  influences,  as  they  did  at  that  time,  was 
peculiarly  suited  to  those  relations  which  are 
productive  of  the  highest  fraternity  feeling.  The 
Hesperian  and  the  Columbian  Literary  Societies 
constituted  by  far  the  most  prominent  feature  of 
student  life  and  were  carefully  fostered  by  the 
college  authorities.  These  societies  offered  medals 
in  debating  and  oratory  and  possessed  elegantly 
furnished  rooms  with  good  libraries.  Moreover, 
scholarship,  in  a  somewhat  old  sense  of  the 
word,  was  a  much  more  prominent  feature  of 


Tritity  College  in  the  Seventies.  11 

college  life  than  it  is  now.  Then,  as  now,  com- 
mencement was  one  of  the  most  enjoyable 
occasions  of  the  college  session  and  was  largely 
attended  from  Greensboro  and  other  near  places. 
A  banquet  was  always  given  by  the  college  in 
honor  of  each  graduating  class. 

At  this  period  intercollegiate  athletics  were 
unknown  to  Trinity  students,  as  far  as  participa- 
tion is  concerned,  but  an  immense  amount  of 
interest  was  taken  in  class  games,  especially  in 
baseball.  On  account  of  the  meager  preparatory 
facilities  in  the  South,  and  on  account  of  the 
results  of  the  Civil  War,  Trinity  students  were, 
as  a  class,  older  than  they  have  ever  been  since. 
They  had  to  originate  all  their  diversions,  and 
they  considered  themselves  at  liberty  to  play  all 
kinds  of  pranks.  Many  were  the  feasts  they  had 
by  night  with  chickens  and  apples  culled  from 
neighboring  premises,  nor  were  the  raids  which 
always  preceded  these  feasts  considered  other 
than  as  a  matter  of  course.  Greensboro  was  a 
kind  of  students'  Mecca,  and  the  boys  used  to 
run  off  there  as  often  as  they  could  without  their 
absence  being  detected  by  the  college  authorities. 
Some  of  them  would  have  kept  livery  teams  of 
their  own,  had  it  not  been  against  the  rules  of  the 
college.  'Possum  and  bird  hunting  were  also 
favorite  amusements.  Trinity  students  then  had 
a  weekly  holiday  and  were  compelled  to  go  to 
chapel.    After  the  college  was  moved  to  Dur- 


12  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 

* 

ham,  however,  the  holiday  was  abandoned  and 
the  college  work  was  distributed  throughout  six 
days  in  the  week,  but  a  remnant  of  the  old  holi- 
day idea  remains  in  the  fact  that  no  chapel  ser- 
vices have  ever  been  held  on  Saturday.  The  stu- 
dents watched  for  the  arrival  of  the  mail  as  the 
principal  event  of  each  day.  There  was  no  rail- 
road closer  than  five  miles,  and  so  the  mail  came 
to  the  college  by  stage,  being  brought  twice  a 
day. 

In  accordance  with  the  leading  suggestion  in 
Zeta's  greetings  to  the  Chapter,  given  above,  the 
initial  care  of  the  first  three  Trinity  Kappa 
Sigmas  was  to  secure  badges.  A  few  days  after 
Brother  Durham's  departure  three  badges  were 
ordered  from  Baltimore  and  received  at  Trinity 
in  a  reasonable  time,  costing  each  of  the  three 
members  nine  dollars.  Brother  Thomas  Taylor 
still  has  his  badge,  and  prizes  it  very  highly.  He 
relates  that  not  long  after  these  first  badges  were 
received,  a  member  left  his  badge  on  a  large  linen 
duster  which  he  was  accustomed  to  wear  and  that 
a  student  whom  they  never  thought  of  taking  in, 
put  on  the  duster  plus  the  badge  (not  knowing 
nor  appreciating  the  significance  of  it)  and  wore 
it  until  the  badge  had  been  observed  by  several 
other  students  and  members  of  the  other  fraterni- 
ties. The  Kappa  Sigmas  were  twitted  with  hav- 
ing taken  in  such  a  person  and  explanations  were 
consequently  forthcoming.    This  incident  made 


Trinity  College  in  the  Seventies.  13 

the  Chapter  more  guarded  than  otherwise  it 
might  have  been  in  its  selection  of  pledges  and  in 
the  care  of  the  emblem.  It  showed  that  the  new 
fraternity  was  being  closely  watched  by  the  others 
and  that  a  misstep  would  lead  to  deterioration 
and  dissolution. 

The  matter  of  by-laws  was  then  taken  up.  A 
code  was  drawn  up  and  a  copy  sent  to  Zeta  Chap- 
ter, but  most  of  the  by-laws  were  a  matter  of 
growth,  and  the  suggestions  of  Zeta  were  adopted 
at  various  times.  As  one  result  of  Brother  Dur- 
ham's very  efficient  instruction  in  the  purposes  of 
fraternity  work,  no  internal  dissention  was  ever 
tolerated  in  the  Chapter.  A  provision  was  early 
incorporated  in  the  by-laws,  that  in  case  of  a  pro- 
tracted and  ill-natured  dispute  or  disagreement 
between  two  members,  in  which  the  members 
refused  to  be  reconciled,  the  members  should  be 
required  to  resign  from  the  fratrenity  in  due 
form,  but  a  unanimous  vote  by  secret  ballot  was 
required  to  accept  this  resignation.  This  law 
never  had  to  go  into  operation  in  any  instance, 
but  it  had  a  salutary  effect  in  doing  away  with 
disputes  over  trivial  matters.  The  by-laws  also 
provided,  among  other  things,  that  absence  from 
a  meeting  without  an  acceptable  excuse  should  be 
attended  by  a  fine  of  one  dollar. 

Brother  Durham  had  left  with  the  new  Chapter 
a  copy  of  the  constitution  of  the  fraternity,  one 
provision  of  which  was  that  not  more  than  one 


14  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


person  should  be  elected  to  membership  in  the 
order  at  a  single  meeting,  and  that  no  other  elec- 
tion for  membership  should  be  held  until  that 
person  should  have  been  duly  initiated  or  should 
have  signified  his  unwillingness  to  enter  the  fra- 
ternity. This  provision  enabled  each  member  to 
vote  on  every  subsequent  candidate.  When  a 
new  man  was  initiated,  some  member  loaned  the 
initiate  his  badge  until  the  new  man  could  get 
one  of  his  own,  just  as  the  present  custom  is  in 
this  matter.  George  David  Tysor,  a  classmate  of 
Brother  Wortham,  became  the  fourth  member  of 
the  Chapter  and  that  not  until  about  two  weeks 
after  Brother  Durham  had  left.  The  five  other 
members  during  the  session  of  1872-73  were: 
Julius  L.  Holmes  (deceased),  '75,  a  sophomore 
and  law  student  from  Cotton  Grove,  N.  C. ;  Wil- 
liam Anderson  Thomas,  '76,  a  freshman  from 
Davisboro,  Ga.,  who  afterwards  established 
Kappa  Sigma  at  Mercer  University,  graduated 
there  and  studied  medicine  at  the  University  of 
Virginia,  being  there  an  affiliate  of  Zeta;  he 
stayed  at  the  University  of  Virginia  only  one 
session  and  completed  his  course  at  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College  at  Philadelphia;  Thomas  Ed- 
ward Kirkpatrick,  75,  a  sophomore  and  resident 
of  Charlotte,  N.  C. ;  Rufus  Basom  Kearans  (de- 
ceased), 75,  a  sophomore  and  resident  at  Trin- 
ity; James  Williamson  Dillon,  75,  a  sophomore 
and  resident  of  Brunswick,  Ga.    Of  the  three 


Trinity  College  in  the  Seventies.  15 

charter  members  Brothers  Wortham  and  Tucker 
are  deceased. 

The  young  Chapter  rapidly  waxed  strong  and 
prospered.  One  of  its  early  schemes  was  to 
establish  a  chapter  at  Raleigh,  N.  C,  to  draw  its 
membership  from  the  alumni  and  ex-students  of 
Trinity  College  who  lived  there.  Permission  to 
do  this  was  obtained  from  Zeta  Chapter,  and  all 
arrangements  were  completed  by  Brother  Thos. 
Taylor  to  go  to  Raleigh  and  establish  the  pro- 
posed chapter,  but  for  some  unknown  reason 
this  was  never  done. 

The  different  chapters  at  Old  Trinity  tried  to 
work  together  in  harmony.  Soon  after  the  intro- 
duction of  Kappa  Sigma,  they  each  appointed  a 
committee  of  three  to  meet  together  and  draw  up 
articles.  They  agreed  to  preserve  a  uniform 
practice  in  "all  elections  in  the  Literary  Societies, 
or  in  the  election  of  Marshal  or  Manager,"  and 
to  keep  their  agreement  secret.  This  agreement 
was  entered  into  in  a  spirit  of  fairness  of  the  fra- 
ternities towards  one  another,  and  it  was  laxness 
in  its  enforcement  that  finally  led  to  their  dis- 
banding in  1879. 

As  for  the  history  of  the  Chapter  from  the 
session  of  1873-74  to  the  latter  part  of  1878  we 
have  very  few  definite  facts,  since  the  minutes 


16 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


of  this  period  have  been  de- 
THE  GROWTH        ,       j         i    *    v  *  A 
AND  PROSPER=    stroved   or   lost,   but  we  do 

ITY  OF  THE  know  that  it  was  in  a  flourish- 

CHAPTER  condition,  and  that  it  kept 

in  close  contact  with  the  parent  chapter.  The 
members  who  are  living  at  present  and  who  were 
in  the  Chapter  during  this  period  speak  very  en- 
thusiastically of  the  many  good,  times  they  had, 
and  love  to  relate  the  sweet  memories  of  those 
good  old  times.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Chap- 
ter was  at  the  height  of  prosperity  at  each  one 
of  the  intervening  sessions  spoken  of  and  that 
the  members  were  of  the  best  type  of  young  man- 
hood, as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  these  men 
now  occupy  positions  of  honor  and  respect 
throughout  the  South.  Thos.  Taylor,  who  grad- 
uated in  1875  and  who  was  considered  a  kind  of 
a  guardian  of  the  Chapter,  attended  the  three 
following  commencements  after  his  graduation* 
and  kept  in  close,  contact  with  the  members.  He 
says  he  always  found  the  Chapter  in  good  condi- 
tion, and  that  they  quite  often  wrote  to  him.  Dr. 
E.  T.  White,  of  the  class  of  1878,  after  he  had 
been  out  of  college  some  time,  was  once  asked  if 
he  had  ever  known  Thos.  Taylor.  His  reply  was, 
"Yes,  he  partly  raised  me." 

In  fact  it  is  the  memory  of  such  characters  as 
Thos.  Taylor  that  causes  so  many  of  the  older 
members  to  write  enthusiastically  about  those 
former  days.    Brother  G.  D.  Tysor,  who  gradu- 


MEMBERS  AT  OLD  TRINITY 

George  David  Tysor  Herbert  Edmund  Norris 

William  Alexander  Thomas  Peter  Edmund  Hines 

James  Lucius  Craven  William  Parker  Mercer 


Growth  and  Prosperity  of  Chapter.  17 

ated  in  1874,  says:  "Well,  well,  Tom  Taylor, 
Tom  Taylor,  too  goody  good  old  Tom.  Why, 
yes,  he  was  a  great  good  old  grand-mama  and,  I 
can  see  the  boys  all  holding  to  his  skirts  and  con- 
fessing their  sins  and  taking  such  medicine  as 
Tom  thought  best  to  administer.  Dear  Brother 
Tom!  I  wish  I  could  shake  his  honest  old  hand 
and  see  him  puff  away  at  his  old  cob  pipe.  May 
he  live  long!"  Many  of  the  informal  meetings 
were  held  in  Thos.  Taylor's  room.  The  boys 
never  made  any  attempt  to  have  an  exclusive 
boarding  place,  but  they  soon  found  themselves 
all  boarding  at  one  Mrs.  Leak's  home,  who  was 
very  good  to  all  of  them.  As  a  whole  the  student 
life  was  one  of  application,  and  "very  few  were 
disposed  to  go  on  foraging  expeditions  during 
the  dead  hours  of  the  night,  yet  it  is  true  that 
occasionally  some  very  clever  boys  would  pull  a 
fat  hen  off  some  foreign  roost  and  bake  her 
before  a  roasting  fire  until  the  tender  meat  would 
mingle  delightfully  with  boarding  house  biscuits." 
As  for  paraphernalia,  this  was  rather  scanty, 
although  the  regular  meeting  room  in  the  Main 
Building  was  fixed  up  very  nicely  for  carrying  on 
business. 

During  the  session  of  1877-78  the  college  man- 
agement had  some  considerable  improvements 
"  done  on  the  campus  and  buildings.    There  was 
a  new  wing  built  to  the  Main  Building,  the 

2 


18 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


lower  floor  being  the  gymnasium  and  the  upper 
floor  the  chapel.  It  was  in  the  gymnasium  that 
the  banquet  of  the  Chapter  was  held  in  the 
spring  of  1879.  There  was  quite  a  noted  caterer 
at  High  Point,  N.  C,  who  served  this  banquet. 
Most  of  the  girls  for  this  occasion  came  from 
Thomasville  and  Greensboro. 

Dr.  Craven,  in  order  to  get  the  different  socie- 
ties of  the  college  to  take  an  interest  in  beautify- 
ing the  campus,  extended  to  them  the  privilege 
of  placing  any  floral  design  representing  their 
insignia  on  the  campus.  The  members  of  Kappa 
Sigma  were  very  eager  to  take  advantage  of  this 
opportunity.  Brother  Norris  was  the  committee 
from  Eta  to  speak  to  the  President  in  regard  to 
the  Chapter  placing  a  design  in  the  shape  of  the 
fraternity  badge.  He  was  the  first  of  any  of  the 
committees  to  speak  to  Dr.  Craven,  and  conse- 
quently secured  the  most  desirable  place  for  the 
same,  which  was  directly  in  front  of  the  Main 
Building.  Shells  were  brought  from  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State  to  beautify  the  design. 

The  minutes  of  "Eta  Prime"  for  the  session  of 
1878-79  show  that  the  Chapter  numbered  at  least 
fifteen  active  members  at  the  close  of  the  session. 


SESSION  OF         Thomas    Neal    Ivey,  Frank 


mund  Norris,  Edwin  Gibbons  Moore,  William 


•♦ETA  PRIME" 
DURING  THE 


These  members  were  as  fol- 
lows :  Thomas  Wesley  Taylor, 


1878=79 


Haywood  Taylor,  Herbert  Ed- 


Eta  Prime  During  Session  of  1878-79.  19 

Throop  Lyon,  Thomas  Raybon  Pepper,  Dabney 
Belvin  Rinehart,  Fletcher  D.  Biggs,  B.  H. 
Sharpe,  Amos  Frederick  Becton,  Daniel  Elijah 
Perry,  William  Henry  Nicholson,  Benjamin 
Franklin  Lane,  and  James  Clarence  Fink,  the 
last  nine  being  initiated  during  that  session,  in 
the  order  named.  From  the  minutes  of  the  first 
meeing  of  the  session,  dated  September  30,  1878, 
we  quote:  "All  spent  a  pleasant  time  talking  of 
Kappa  Sigma's  great  success  and  achievements, 
and  determining  how  we  could  start  work  for  the 
coming  year.  After  quite  a  lengthy  debate  upon 
the  subject,  the  fraternity  adjourned  to  com- 
mence our  regular  work  at  the  next  meeting." 
(Signed)  T.  W.  Taylor,  W.  G.  M.;  H.  E.  Nor- 
ris,  G.  M.  C. ;  T.  N.  Ivey,  G.  T. ;  E.  G.  Moore,  G. 
S.  From  the  minutes  of  November  9,  1878,  we 
quote:  "Under  the  head  of  General  Business  it 
was  moved  and  passed  that  the  W.  G.  M.  appoint 
a  committee  to  confer  with  other  Fraternities  on 
the  propriety  of  getting  up  a  Magazine,  a  thing 
that  will  be  interesting  and  instructive,  and 
through  which  we  may  know  how  other  Fraterni- 
ties are  progressing,  for  which  purpose  Bros. 
Norris  and  Moore  were  appointed.*  A  commit- 
tee consisting  of  Bros.  Norris,  Pepper  and  Moore 
was  appointed  to  bring  up  the  shells  belonging  to 
the  K.  S.  badge  from  Dr.  Craven's  room."  From 


*This  was  the  first  proposition  for  inter-fraternity  journal- 
ism of  which  the  writer  has  any  knowledge. 


20  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


the  minutes  of  December  7,  1878,  we  quote: 
"The  committee  appointed  to  get  the  shells  from 
Dr.  Craven's  room  reported  that  they  had 
brought  them  up.  Also  Bro.  Norris,  the  chair- 
man of  the  committee  appointed  to  communicate 
with  the  old  members  of  the  Fraternity  concern- 
ing the  Magazine,  reported  that  he  had  written  to 
several  of  them  and  that  he  had  received  letters 
from  Bro.  Wortham  and  Taylor  expressing  their 
views  upon  the  subject.  Bro.  Norris  then  offered 
some  Resolutions  of  the  Fraternity  which  on 
motion  were  accepted,  and  it  was  decided  that 
they  should  be  printed  and  sent  to  other  chapters 
of  the  K.  S.  Fraternity.  The  business  being  too 
much  for  a  committee  of  two  to  attend  to,  Bro. 
Ivey  was  appointed  as  the  third.  Under  the  head 
of  General  Business,  it  was  proposed  that  the 
Fraternity  meet  twice  a  week,  Thursday  and 
Saturday  nights.  It  was  also  proposed  in  order 
to  interest  the  members  of  the  Fraternity  that 
one  of  the  members  should  deliver  an  Oration 
for  the  good  of  the  order  at  every  regular  meet- 
ing, and  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  three  to  two. 
Bro.  Ivey  was  appointed  to  deliver  an  Oration  at 
the  next  meeting."  From  the  minutes  of  March 
29,  1879,  we  quote :  "The  Fraternity  decided  that 
all  should  meet  next  Saturday  to  complete  the 
Badge  in  the  campus."  From  the  minutes  of 
April  16,  1879,  we  quote:  "Since  it  has  been  a 
matter  of  some  difficulty  to  get  the  Badge  wa- 


Eta  Prime  During  Session  of  1878-79.  21 

tered,  it  was  determined  that  the  members  of 
the  Fraternity  should  be  divided  into  companies 
of  three  each,  and  that  they  should  water  it  each 
evening  successively.  The  Fraternity  then  went 
into  the  election  of  Speakers  for  the  Banquet 
occasion,  which  resulted  as  follows:  To  deliver 
the  address — W.  B.  Mercer,  Farewell — Thos.  N. 
Ivey,  Reply — E.  G.  Moore."  From  the  minutes 
of  April  26,  1879,  we  quote :  "Under  the  head  of 
Report  of  Committees,  Bro.  Moore  made  a  report 
as  follows:  To  defray  the  expense  of  the  Ban- 
quet that  a  tax  of  $2.00  PER  CAPITA  be  levied 
which  report  was  received.  Under  the  head  of 
General  Business,  Bro.  Moore  made  a  motion 
that  we  elect  a  member  of  the  Senior  Class  to 
deliver  an  Address  of  Welcome  at  the  Banquet 
which  was  carried,  the  Fraternity  then  proceeded 
to  the  election,  which  resulted  in  the  election  of 
H.  E.  Norris.  Bro.  Moore  also  read  a  letter 
from  Bro.  Page,  W.  G.  S.  of  Kappa  Sigma,  in 
which  he  sent  his  congratulations  and  best  wishes 
for  the  Chapter's  success.  On  motion  a  recess 
was  declared,  after  which  the  house  was  called  to 
order  and  the  Banquet  tickets  were  distributed." 

It  was  during  this  same  session  of  1878-79  that 
those  conditions  were  brought  about  that  led  to 
the  disbanding  of  the  Chapter.    Brother  Thos. 


22 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


W.  Taylor  relates  that  until 
THE  DISBAND-  ig/8  the  fraternities  were  run 
INQ  OF  THE  i  i  .... 

CHAPTER  solely  as  social  organizations. 

At  the  commencement  of  that 
year,  being  at  the  end  of  the  session  of  1877-78, 
there  arose  a  dispute  over  the  awarding  of  the 
debater's  medal  in  the  Hesperian  Literary  So- 
ciety. The  originator  of  the  dispute  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Chi  Phi,  who  claimed  that  the  non- 
fraternity  men  were  discriminating  against  the 
members  of  his  fraternity.  The  dispute  grew  in 
intensity  during  the  ensuing  session  of  1878-79, 
and  for  self-protection  the  fraternities  combined 
against  those  who  did  not  belong  to  these  orga- 
nizations. The  outsiders  then  formed  an  organi- 
zation, obtained  a  charter  from  Phi  Delta  Theta, 
and  initiated  nearly  every  outsider  in  college, 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  numerical 
strength  with  no  regard  to  the  social  features. 
This  brought  about  a  bitter  fight  with  the  other 
fraternities  over  every  honor  that  the  literary 
societies  bestowed.  In  the  spring  of  1879  Dr. 
Craven  attended  the  General  Methodist  Confer- 
ence at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  and  was  absent  from 
college  for  four  or  five  weeks.  During  that  time 
the  election  for  Chief  Marshal  and  Manager  for 
the  ensuing  Commencement  came  off.  George  M. 
Bulla,  of  High  Point,  N.  C,  organizer  of  the  Phi 
Delta  Thetas,  and  Evans  Tanner,  of  Sassafras 
Fork,  N.  C,  a  member  of  Chi  Phi,  were  candi- 


The  Disbanding  of  the  Chapter.  23 

dates  for  the  same  office,  and  by  aid  of  the  Alpha 
Tau  Omega  and  Phi  Delta  Theta  fraternities, 
Bulla  was  elected.  Just  why  the  Alpha  Tau 
Omegas  joined  in  with  the  Phi  Delta  Thetas  is 
not  known.  Bulla's  combination  was  too  strong 
for  the  other  two  fraternities,  and  encouraged  by 
this  circumstance,  he  also  ran  for  the  presidency 
of  the  Hesperian  Literary  Society.  This  was 
contrary  to  custom  and  considered  an  outrage  on 
account  of  Dr.  Craven's  absence.  Tanner  was 
the  rival  candidate  against  Bulla  in  this  contest 
also.  F.  H.  Taylor,  a  brother  of  T.  W.  Taylor, 
and  a  member  of  Kappa  Sigma,  though  not  a 
member  of  either  literary  society,  was  a  good 
friend  of  Tanner  and  offered  to  join  the  Hespe- 
rian Literary  Society  solely  for  the  purpose  of 
voting  for  him.  Bulla  and  his  crowd  contended 
that  as  F.  H.  Taylor  would  cast  the  deciding 
vote  in  the  contest  he  had  no  right  to  join  for 
that  purpose.  The  candidates  then  called  in  Pro- 
fessor Carr  to  settle  the  dispute.  The  Professor 
took  the  ground  that  F.  H.  Taylor  had  a  perfect 
right  to  join  unless  it  was  shown  that  he  was 
socially  or  morally  unfitted.  The  next  vote  on 
F.  H.  Taylor's  name  as  a  candidate  for  member- 
ship in  the  literary  society  was  put  on  these 
grounds.  The  society  rejected  him  a  second 
time.  Bulla  was  elected  contrary  to  all  prece- 
dent simply  by  the  mass  of  the  two  fraterni- 
ties, Phi  Delta  Theta  and  Alpha  Tau  Omega, 


24  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


combined  for  that  purpose.  When  Dr.  Craven 
returned  he  was  so  incensed  that  he  determined 
to  disband  all  the  fraternities  and  would  doubt- 
less have  done  so  in  the  following  year  if  the  fra- 
ternities had  not  disbanded  by  agreement  at  the 
beginning  of  the  next  session. 

At  Commencement  of  1879  there  was  a  meeting 
of  some  of  the  alumni  of  Trinity  College.  Of 
course  the  disturbance  in  the  societies  spoken  of 
above  was  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  those  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare  of  the  college.  At  this  meet- 
ing of  the  alumni  one  of  them  who  had  not  been 
a  member  of  any  of  the  fraternities  made  a  very 
strenuous  speech  against  the  further  existence  of 
the  fraternities  at  Trinity  and  made  a  motion  that 
the  alumni  send  in  a  petition  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees  to  perfect  the  purpose  of  his  speech. 
Professor  W.  H.  Pegram,  a  Chi  Phi  alumnus  and 
a  member  of  the  Faculty,  opposed  this  plan,  but 
proposed  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer 
with  representatives  of  the  different  fraternities 
with  the  view  of  geting  them  to  disband  of  their 
own  accord.  Professor  Pegram's  proposition 
was  adopted  and  he,  with  one  other  alumnus,  was 
appointed  to  confer  with  representatives.  This 
was  so  near  the  end  of  the  year  that  nothing 
could  be  done  at  that  time.  So  at  the  beginning 
of  the  following  session  Professor  Pegram  con- 
ferred with  one  member  of  each  of  the  fraterni- 
ties whom  he  considered  the  leader  of  his  respec- 


MEMBERS  AT  OLD  TRINITY 

Edward  Bascom  Claywell  James  F.  Tanner 

Julius  L.  Holmes  Herbert  Milton  Barrow 

Sherrod  Thomas  Hall  Robert  Henry  Hargrove 


Inception  of  the  Devil's  Thirteen.  25 


tive  chapter.  In  each  case  this  was  done  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  other  fraternities  until  the 
Professor  found  that  they  were  all  willing  to  dis- 
band. Then  he  had  the  different  fraternities  to 
enter  into  an  agreement  not  to  initiate  any  more 
men  and  thus  let  the  respective  chapters  cease 
to  exist  in  the  college. 

After  the  three  chapters  of  fraternities  at  Old 
'    Trinity  were  compelled  to  disband  in  the  fall  of 
1879,  the  fraternity  idea  languished.  Member- 


ing  down  the  fraternity  spirit.  During  the  en- 
suing period  of  about  ten  years,  the  college  ex- 
perienced a  sort  of  slump  due  to  lack  of  support 
and  to  situation  remote  from  the  public.  In  the 
fall  of  1890,  however,  almost  coincident  with  the 
agitation  of  questions  concerning  great  improve- 
ment in  the  college,  the  fraternity  idea  began 
unconsciously  to  reassert  itself  for  the  first  time. 
During  the  session  of  1890-91,  some  time  before 
or  after  the  Christmas  holiday  period,  some  of 
the  students  were  very  much  surprised  one  morn- 
ing at  chapel  to  find  quite  a  number  of  seniors 
ostentatiously  wearing  a  badge  or  emblem  of 
some  society  not  previously  known  at  college. 
This  society  took  the  name  "9019,"  and  kept 
itself  shrouded  in  mystery  as  much  as  possible. 


THE  INCEPTION 
OF  THE  "DEV- 
IL'S THIRTEEN" 


ship  in  one  or  the  other  of  the 
two  literary  societies  was  made 
almost  compulsory  by  the  Fac- 
ulty with  the  purpose  of  keep- 


26  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


Thomas  Cowper  Daniels,  David  Anderson  Hous- 
ton, and  Fred  Harper  were  among  the  few 
seniors  who  did  not  have  this  badge  on.  There 
were  a  number  of  students  in  the  other  classes 
who  were  surprised  and,  perhaps,  piqued  at  being 
left  out  of  an  organization  that  sported  so  pretty 
a  badge.  Naturally  these  outsiders  drifted  into 
frequent  discussions  of  the  new  organization,  and 
a  few  choice  fellows  finally,  in  a  spirit  of  deviltry, 
organized,  secretly,  a  society  known  as  the 
"Devil's  Thirteen,"  which  had  practically  no  aim 
or  object,  except  to  get  the  most  fun  possible  out 
of  the  situation. 

One  night,  during  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1891,  Daniels,  Houston  and  Harper,  with  several 
others,  were  returning  from  a  raid  of  some  kind 
when  the  spirit  moved  them  to  organize  secretly. 
They  went  immediately  to  Daniels'  room,  dis- 
cussed the  matter,  and  appointed  a  committee  to 
get  up  a  prospectus  and  constitution  for  the  pro- 
posed society,  and  to  report  in  one  week.  These 
fellows  were  an  exceedingly  congenial  lot  who 
had  been  going  together  during  that  and  the  pre- 
vious session.  Their  organization  was  sponta- 
neous, was  not  in  opposition  to  anything,  and 
was  not  for  the  purpose  of  getting  into  a  frater- 
nity. Daniels,  Houston  and  Harper  were  class- 
mates and  all  graduated  at  Old  Trinity  with  the 
class  of  1891. 

At  the  end  of  one  week,  the  committee  re- 


Inception  of  the  Devil's  Thirteen.  27 

ported  satisfactorily,  and  the  question  of  a  name 
for  the  society  became  in  order.  It  was  the  fancy 
and  suggestion  of  Frank  Armfield  to  adopt  the 
name  "Devil's  Thirteen,"  and  to  meet  in  a  place 
to  be  called  "Hell's  Hollow."  This  suggestion 
was  adopted  and  the  number  of  members  was 
afterwards  raised  and  limited  to  thirteen.  A  deep 
ravine  back  of  Dr.  Craven's  house  was  selected 
for  "Hell's  Hollow."  In  this  ravine  was  a  small 
unfinished  tobacco  barn  built  of  logs.  The  barn 
had  not  been  far  enough  finished  to  have  any 
place  cut  out  for  a  door  or  to  have  any  roof, 
so  the  boys  used  to  climb  down  into  it  over 
the  walls  to  hold  their  meetings,  until  the  haunted 
cottage  was  discovered.  The  early  initiations 
were  carried  on  in  Mrs.  Albright's  barn,  owing 
to  the  unsuitableness  of  "Hell's  Hollow"  for  such 
purposes.  In  the  early  part  of  the  same  winter, 
about  the  time  of  the  first  snow,  some  of  the 
boys  were  prowling  around  in  the  woods  one  day 
and  came  upon  a  deserted  cottage  which  looked 
good  to  them  for  a  meeting  place,  because 
"Hell's  Hollow"  was  too  much  exposed  to  the 
cold  weather.  This  cottage  was  about  two  miles 
from  the  college,  and  was  considered  haunted,  by 
the  people  of  the  neighborhood,  so  that  no  one 
would  go  near  it  at  night.  The  boys  rented  this 
cottage  from  its  owner  for  $2.00  a  month,  and 
kept  it  for  a  meeting  place.  Their  purpose  devel- 
oped to  perpetuate  the  society  as  a  sophomore 


28  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


organization,  and  they  soon  began  to  observe  a 
regular  form  in  conducting  their  meetings.  In 
getting  up  their  secret  work,  Daniels  procured  the 
assistance  of  a  Skull  and  Bones  man,  an  alumnus 
of  Yale.  This  secret  work  was  very  highly  prized 
by  the  members  and  the  secrecy  of  the  organiza- 
tion cannot  be  too  greatly  emphasized.  Before 
long  the  existence  of  such  an  organization  was 
rumored,  but  the  identity  of  its  members  was 
not  divulged  for  several  years. 

During  the  early  days  of  the  organization  a 
lecturer  came  to  Trinity  College  and  related  an 
incident  of  his  college  career  in  which  a  society 
was  formed  for  the  promotion  of  impromptu 
speaking.  The  members  would  meet  and  each 
would  secretly  write  upon  a  slip  of  paper  a  sub- 
ject. These  slips  would  then  be  shaken  up  in  a 
hat,  the  roll  called,  and  as  his  name  was  called, 
each  member  would  go  to  the  hat  and  draw  out  a 
slip.  He  was  compelled,  under  penalty,  to  deliver 
a  five  minutes  talk  upon  the  subject  he  found 
written  on  the  slip  he  had  drawn.  This  idea  was 
appropriated  by  the  members  of  the  "Devil's 
Thirteen,"  and  it  was  decided  to  enlarge  the 

society,  change  its  name  to  the 
THE  "OWLS"       "Owls,"  and  have  for  the  main 

feature  of  its  meetings  this  lit- 
erary impromptu  speaking.  At  one  of  the  meet- 
ings some  one  spoke  on  the  subject  of  Greek 
letter  fraternities  and  advocated  trying  to  get 


The  Owls. 


29 


into  one  of  them.  This  matter  was  discussed  at 
various  times  and  several  letters  were  written  to 
different  fraternities,  but  none  of  them  wanted 
to  come  in  sub  rosa,  so  nothing  ever  came  of 
this,  because  faculty  opposition  to  fraternities 
precluded  the  possibility  of  acting  openly  with 
any  degree  of  success. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  secrecy  of  the  identity 
of  the  members  in  soliciting  new  members,  they 
followed  the  plan  of  sending  an  unsigned,  printed 
letter  to  the  proposed  candidate,  inviting  him  to 
join,  and  enclosing  an  emblem  for  him  to  wear  in 
case  of  his  acceptance.  If  he  wore  the  emblem, 
they  would  send  him  a  second  similar  letter  in- 
structing him  where  to  be  on  some  apointed 
night.  The  place  of  initiation  would  then  be  sur- 
rounded by  sentries.  No  word  was  spoken  dur- 
ing the  initiation.  The  candidate  was  met  by  the 
first  sentry  and  passed  on  by  him  to  the  second 
and  on  to  the  third.  The  third  sentry  blindfolded 
the  candidate  and  led  him  to  the  meeting  place. 
The  members  all  wore  masks  and  black  gowns 
and  were  provided  with  whistles  which  they  used 
for  carrying  out  a  regular  code  of  signals.  All 
this  precaution  was  necessary  in  order  to  keep 
them  from  being  followed  and  spied  upon. 

This  organization  never  did  assume  any  very 
stable  form.  During  its  existence,  it  probably 
had  in  all  as  many  as  forty  members.  The  prime 
movers  gradually  lost  interest  when  the  number 


30 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


of  members  became  so  large.  The  integrity  of 
the  organization  seemed  to  have  been  lost,  its 
vitality  gradually  seeped  away,  and  it  perished, 
probably  soon  after  the  college  was  moved  to 
Durham  in  the  fall  of  1892. 

The  story  of  the  "Devil's  Thirteen"  has  no 
place  in  the  history  of  Eta  Prime  Chapter,  ex- 
cept inasmuch  as  two  of  the  founders  of  this 
society,  Thomas  Cowper  Daniels,  '91,  and  David 
Anderson  Houston,  '91,  became  charter  members 
of  the  revived  Chapter  at  Durham,  N.  C,  in 
1892,  after  Fred  Harper,  '91,  another  of  the 
founders  of  this  society,  had  become  a  Kappa 
Sigma  at  the  University  of  Virginia.  Several 
others  who  had  been  members  of  the  "Owls,"  at 
least,  were  also  initiated  into  the  revived  Chapter. 
During  the  session  of  1891-92,  Daniels  and  Har- 
per remained  at  Trinity  as  law  students,  and 
Houston  remained  as  an  assistant  in  the  Commer- 
cial Department. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  session  1892-93,  Fred 
Harper  went  to  the  University  of  Virginia  to 
study  law,  while  Daniels  and  Houston  remained 


RE=ESTABLISH=   Houston,  Harper,  and  Davis, 


Phi  Delta  Theta  for  a  charter,  but  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  college  was  on  the  eve  of  being 
moved  to  Durham,  N.  C,  and  the  necessarily 


ACTIVITIES 
PREVIOUS  TO 


at  Trinity  College.  During 
the  session  of  1891-92,  Daniels, 


MENT 


'94,  with  others,  had  petitioned 


Previous  Activities. 


31 


chaotic  conditions  incident  thereto,  this  petition 
was  not  granted.  Also,  when  Harper  did  not 
return  to  Trinity  College  in  the  session  of  1892- 
93,  Daniels,  Houston,  and  Davis,  '94,  withdrew 
from  this  petition.  Harper  was  initiated  into 
Kappa  Sigma  at  the  University  of  Virginia  on 
October  11,  1892,  and  immediately  he  and  some 
others  of  the  active  members  of  Zeta  Chapter 
became  active  in  an  effort  to  reestablish  the  Chap- 
ter formerly  at  Trinity,  as  is  shown  by  the  letters 
quoted  below: 

University  of  Virginia, 
Tuesday  Oct.  12,  '92. 
Mr.  Herbert  M.  Martin,  Danville,  Virginia: 

Dear  Bro.  Martin  : — I  wrote  you  last  Saturday  or 
Sunday  in  regard  to  placing  a  Chapter  at  Trinity 
College,  N.  C,  but  as  I  have  received  no  answer  from 
you  as  yet,  I  write  again  and  ask  that  you  will  please 
answer  by  return  mail. 

We  succeeded  in  convincing  Mr.  Harper,  of  Trinity 
College,  that  our  Fraternity  was  the  fraternity, 
although  he  was  closely  followed  by  several  others, 
and  last  night  he  was  initiated  into  the  secrets  of  the 
order  and  right  nobly  did  William  do  his  part. 

He  is  very  enthusiastic  and  says  he  knows  of  eight 
men  who  will  join,  if  they  can  get  a  Charter,  and 
besides  that  we  are  going  to  try  and  make  it  open  and 
above  board — no  sub  rosa,  if  we  can  help  it,  but  if 
necessary,  why  then  sub  rosa.  I  know  some  of  the 
men  he  proposes  and  they  are  good  men.  Now,  if  we 
are  going  to  act,  it  must  be  at  once,  for  Phi  Delta 
Theta  is  trying  to  get  there  ahead  of  us.  If  this 
meets  your  approbation,  signify  by  returning  to  me 


32  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


in  your  letter  a  blank  for  application.  If  necessary 
I  think  you  would  be  justified  in  telegraphing  the 
S.  E.  C.  at  their  expense. 

And  if  you  decide  to  grant  the  Charter,  who  will  go 
down  and  do  the  work?  There  is  an  old  K.  S.  in  the 
town,  so  only  two  men  would  be  necessary.  Could 
not  you  be  one  of  them  ? 

I  hope  to  get  better  success  from  this  than  from 
the  Washington  Chapter.       Yours  in  K.  S. 

A.  J.  Wittson.* 

University  of  Virginia, 
Department  of  Law,  Oct.  19,  '92. 
Mr.  Herbert  M.  Martin,  Danville,  Virginia: 

Dear  Brother  : — I  received  a  communication  from 
a  friend  of  mine  at  Trinity  College,  N.  C,  saying  he 
has  five  men  and  wants  a  Chapter  of  K.  S.  I  told  him 
to  send  the  petition  to  you  and  you  would  attend 
to  it. 

I  know  all  the  boys  he  mentioned  save  one.  I 
have  attended  college  with  all,  save  that  one,  and  I 
can  most  unreservedly  recommend  them  individually 
as  the  most  companionable  sort  of  fellows  in  this  wide 
world.  They  were  all  of  them  "chums"  of  mine  while 
1  was  at  Trinity.  Daniels  is  the  best  all-round  athlete 
in- the  South  undoubtedy.  He  is  a  Ph.  B.  from  Trinity 
and  is  back  taking  law.  He  is  about  22  years  old. 
Houston  is  an  A.-  B.  from  Trinity,  is  about  21  years 
old,  and  is  taking  a  post-graduate  course  in  Political 
Economy.  His  family  is  one  of  the  best  in  Monroe, 
N.  C,  as  Daniels'  is  in  New  Bern.  Davis  is  perhaps 
the  sportiest,  best  young  fellow  in  Trinity  today.  His 
family  is  all  that  could  be  desired  and  K.  S.  can't  find 


•Albert  Jackson  Wittson  was  an  initiate  of  Delta  Chapter 
and  a  resident  of  Greensboro,  N.  C. 


MEMBERS  AT  OLD  TRINITY 
William  Street y  Hales  Edmund  Thomas  White 

R,  B.  Barefoot 

John  D.  Hargrove  Grandison  Christian  Edwards 

William  Parsons  Ive}- 
Charles  North  Mason  Yancey  Thomas  Ormond 


Previous  Activities. 


33 


a  better  man.  Rowland  is  another  whom  I  will  vouch 
for  most  earnestly.  He  plays  on  Trinity's  .  football 
team  and  is  an  honor  man.  His  family  is  one  of  the 
best  in  Vance  County.  The  other  man,  Harrison,  I 
do  not  know,  but  I'll  answer  for  any  man  they  want.. 
They  say  he  has  plenty  of  money  and  promises  well  in 
college.  There  is  but  one  frat  in  Trinity  now,  A.  T.  O. 
(sub  rosa),  but  there  is  one  S.  A.  E.  and  one  Beta 
Theta  Pi,  and  if  we  want  the  start  we  had  better  not 
hesitate.  These  boys  say  they  want  a  frat  and  if  K.  S. 
will  not  give  them  a  Charter  they  will  apply  for  an- 
other, they  want  K.  S.  because  I  am  one. 

Trinity  bids  fair  to  become  the  best  college  in  the 
South,  as  indeed  she  is  already  in  the  State.  They 
will  not  have  to  go  sub  rosa  and  I  earnestly  recom- 
mend a  speedy  grant  of  a  charter.  Fraternally, 

Fred  Harper. 

North  Danville,  Va.,  Oct.  20,  1892. 
Mr.  Thos.  Daniels,  Trinity  College: 

Dear  Sir: — My  good  friend  and  brother  in  Kappa 
Sigma,  Fred  Harper,  of  U.  of  Va.,  has  just  written 
that  you,  together  with  four  friends,  Messrs.  Houston, 
Davis,  Rowland,  and  Harrison,  wish  to  secure  a  char- 
ter for  a  Chapter  of  Kappa  Sigma  at  Trinity  College. 
Knowing  Trinity  to  be  the  leading  institution  in  the 
State  and  among  the  best  in  the  South,  and  further, 
having  a  high  regard  for  Harper's  judgment  of  men 
who  are  worthy  and  well  qualified  to  enter  the  Kappa 
Sigma  Fraternity,  I  will  be  free  to  say  to  you  that  I 
am  ready  for  my  part  to  endorse  your  petition  for  a 
charter,  and  that  there  need  be  no  trouble  in  your 
securing  the  same.  To  this  end  I  ask  that  you  for- 
ward the  petition  to  me  and  I  will  at  once  take  steps 
to  insure  prompt  action  upon  the  part  of  the  Supreme 
3 


34  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


Executive  Committee  of  the  Fraternity.  Many  of  the 
preliminaries  usually  gone  through  with  in  regard  to 
granting  a  charter  may  be  dispensed  with  in  this 
case,  since  we  know  our  ground  so  well. 

I  see  no  reason  why  your  Chapter  should  not  be  in 
good  running  order  within  the  month.  This,  however, 
depends  in  a  large  degree  upon  the  promptness  with 
which  you  send  the  petition  asking  for  the  charter. 

You  may  not  have  been  told  that  one  of  the  strong- 
est and  most  successful  of  our  Chapters  was  once 
located  at  Trinity.  It  had  upwards  of  fifty  names 
upon  its  roll  when  those  iron-clad  anti-fraternity  laws 
caused  its  death.  I  am  rejoiced  that  we  are  soon  to 
see  our  old  Eta  Chapter  revived,  a  thing  I  have  long 
been  wishing  to  see. 

Do  you  remember  when  Trinity  first  played  the  U. 
of  Va.  in  Richmond,*  and  that  after  the  game  several 
Randolph-Macon  students  were  up  in  your  room  at 
the  hotel?  I  was  among  the  number,  and  am  glad  to 
feel  that  we  may  become  more  fully  known  to  each 
other  within  a  short  time. 

Awaiting  an  early  reply  from  you,  I  remain, 
Yours  very  truly, 

Herbert  M.  Martin. 

North  Danville,  Va.,  Oct.  20,  1892. 
Dr.  Jas.  H.  Durham.  Wilmington,  N.  C: 

Dear  Sir  and  Brother: — We  are  about  to  revive 
the  old  Eta  Chapter  at  Trinity  College  and  wish  to 
reissue  the  Charter  with  the  names  of  those  charter 


♦The  first  game  between  Trinity  College  and  the  University 
of  Virginia,  played  at  Richmond,  was  in  the  fall  of  1890. 
Trinity  was  defeated,  but  she  won  from  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia the  next  year  and  held  the  championship  of  the  South  in 
football.  During  the  next  year,  session  1891-92,  Thomas 
Cowper  Daniels  was  captain  of  the  football  team. 


Previous  Activities. 


35 


members  appearing  who  composed  the  Chapter  when 
you  established  it  on  February  28,  1873.  The  records 
do  not  show  who  were  the  charter  members,  and  hence 
I  write  (to  you,  hoping  that  you  may  be  able  to  tell  me 
who  they  were,  since  the  honor  was  yours  of  establish- 
ing the  Chapter.  I  give  below  the  names  of  those  who 
composed  the  Trinity  Chapter  during  the  first  year  of 
its  existence,  and  from  the  number  you  may  be  able  to 
pick  those  who  were  the  charter  members  or  were  in- 
itiated on  the  day  you  established  the  Chapter. 

I  will  inform  you  of  the  day  set  for  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  the  Chapter  and  hope  you  may  find  it  conven- 
ient to  be  with  us  in  Durham  on  that  occasion.  Await- 
ing an  early  reply  from  you,  I  am, 

Yours  fraternally, 
Heebeet  M.  Mabtin,  W.  G.  S. 

MEMBERS  OF  ETA  CHAPTER,  TRINITY  COLLEGE 
Session  1873-'74. 

P.  S.— Thos.  Taylor,  Townesville,  N.  C. ;  A.  R.  Wor- 
tham,  Henderson,  N.  C. ;  Ned  H.  Tucker,  Olive,  N.  C. ; 
P.  E.  Hines,  Toisnot,  N.  C. ;  Geo.  D.  Tysor,  Fair  Haven, 
N.  C. ;  Wm.  P.  Mercer,  Toisnot,  N.  C. ;  T.  E.  Kirkpat- 
rick,  Charlotte,  N.  C. ;  E.  B.  Claywell,  Morganton,  N. 
C. ;  J.  W.  Dillon,  Brunswick,  Ga. ;  J.  L.  Holmes,  Trin- 
ity College,  N.  C. ;  R.  B.  Keerans,  Trinity  College,  N. 
C. ;  J.  L.  Craven,  Trinity  College,  N.  C. ;  W.  A.  Thomas, 
Bartow,  Ga. ;  S.  Thos.  Hall,  Davisboro,  Ga. ;  J.  F.  Tan- 
ner, Sandersville,  Ga. ;  R.  B.  Barefoot,  Wilson,  N.  C. 

Hendeeson,  N.  C,  Oct.  24,  1892. 
Mr.  Herbert  M.  Martin,  Danville,  Virginia: 

Deae  Sib  : — The  above  letter  has  been  sent  me  for  a 
reply.    Charter  members  you  will  find  to  have  been 


36  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


Thos.  Taylor,  A.  R.  Worthain,  N.  H.  Tucker,  Hines, 
Tysor,  and  Mercer.*    I  wish  you  may  be  successful. 

Yours  fraternally, 

A.  R.  Wortham. 

University  of  Virginia, 
Department  of  Law,  Oct.  21,  1892. 
Mr.  Herbert  M.  Martin,  Danville,  Virginia: 

Dearest  Brother: — Your  letter  just  received  and 
will  write  to  confirm  your  opinion  of  Daniels  and 
Rowland.  You  met  them  both  in  Richmond.  As  for 
their  leaving  college  soon — Harrison  is,  I  think,  a 
Freshman.  Houston  and  Daniels  are  both  likely  to  be 
connected  with  the  college  for  several  years  yet.  Row- 
land and  Davis  are  only  Juniors.  Besides,  Daniels 
wrote  that  he  had  others  in  view. 

I  am  glad  that  you  are  enthusiastic  in  the  matter, 
for  I  earnestly  believe  that  K.  S.  could  not  do  better 
than  to  grant  this  charter. 

I  am  in  daily  expectation  of  a  letter  from  Daniels, 
and  will  write  you  all  particulars.  Let  me  know  de- 
velopments and  I  will  try  to  get  off  to  help  "goat" 
them.  Fraternally  yours, 

Fred  Harper. 


♦There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  Thos.  Taylor,  A.  R. 
Wortham,  and  N.  H.  Tucker  were  the  only  men  initiated  by 
Bro.  James  H.  Durham  on  his  trip  to  Trinity  in  1873  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  the  old  Eta  Chapter.  Hines,  Tysor, 
and  Mercer  may  have  been  initiated  by  Thos.  Taylor,  A.  R. 
Wortham,  and  N.  H.  Tucker  at  their  first  meeting  afttr  Bro. 
Durham  left,  and,  in  that  sense,  may  have  been  considered 
charter  members  by  the  first  three  initiates. 

Note. — See  page  14. 


Previous  Activities. 


37 


Trinity  College,  Durham,  N.  C, 

October  28,  1892. 
Mr.  Herbert  M.  Martin,  Danville,  Va.: 

My  Dear  Sir: — Yours  of  the  20th  came  to  hand  a 
few  days  ago. 

Since  writing  to  our  old  comrade  Harper,  one  of 
the  fellows  has  left  College — Rowland.  We  do  not 
want  to  petition  with  Harrison,  as  he  is  a  new  man 
whom  we  do  not  know  well  as  yet. 

If  the  old  Eta  Prime  Chapter  can  be  revived  by  us 
— with  four  men,  we  would  be  highly  honored  by 
being  accepted. 

We  are  very  desirous  of  becoming  K.  S.'s  and  would 
be  glad  if  you  could  get  us  a  Chapter  through.  The 
men  will  be :  D.  A.  Houston,  '91,  Post-graduate  work ; 
F.  B.  Davis,  '94;  F.  G.  Westbrook,  '94;  Tom  Daniels, 
'91,  Law. 

If  a  fifth  man  is  required,  we  can  get  one,  but  would 
(prefer  the  establishment  with  the  above  four,  as  we 
desire  to  fill  our  ranks  with  good  men  from  the  Fresh 
classes. 

I  remember  very  well  the  R.  M.  students  at  Rich- 
mond, and  hope  to  be  honored  by  being  permitted  to 
become  a  fraternity  mate  of  at  least  one  of  that  num- 
ber. Very  truly  yours, 

*  Tom  C.  Daniels. 

North  Danville,  Vam  Oct.  28,  1892 
Mr.  T.  C.  Daniels,  Trinity  College: 

My  Dear  Sir: — Your  esteemed  favor  of  the  27th 
inst.  is  at  hand  and  in  reply  thereto  will  say :  Al- 
though sorry  to  learn  that  Rowland  has  left  college, 
yet  a  charter  may  be  granted  to  four,  and  we  will  be 
glad  to  revive  old  Eta  Chapter  through  yourself,  to- 
gether with  Messrs.  Houston,  Davis  and  Westbrook. 


38  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


I  enclose  herewith  a  form  of  petition  which  you  will 
please  sign  and  have  each  of  the  other  three  to'  sign 
it,  after  which  you  will  forward  it  to  me,  and  upon 
receipt  of  same  I  will  proceed  at  once  to  put  it 
through  the  proper  course,  and  will  lose  no  time  in 
drawing  up  the  charter.  I  would  impress  upon  you 
the  importance  of  attending  to  this  at  once,  since  we 
wish  to  have  the  Chapter  in  running  order  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Awaiting  an  early  reply  from  you,  I  am,  with  re- 
gards, Yours  truly, 

Herbert  M.  Martin, 

Worthy  Grand  Scribe. 

Trinity  College,  Dubham,  N.  C, 

October  29,  1892. 
Mr.  Herbert  M.  Martin,  Danville,  Va,: 

My  Dear  Sir: — Yours  to  hand.  We  will  file  the 
petition  as  soon  as  Mr.  Westbrook  returns  from  home, 
where  he  has  gone  to  register  and  vote.  We  could 
sign  for  him,  but  as  you  desire  the  signatures  we  will 
await  his  return. 

Another  matter — Last  fall  Harper,  Houston,  Davis 
and  I  were  placed  on  a  petition  to  the  Phi  Gamma 
Deltas  [there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  Phi  Delta 
Theta  is  meant  for  Phi  Gamma  Delta] — which  char- 
ter was  withheld  until  the  institution  reached  Dur- 
ham. 

Houston,  Davis  and  I  withdrew  from  the  petition; 
and  Harper,  going  to  the  University  of  Virginia,  be- 
came a  K.  S.  Now  what  we  desire  to  know  is  if  that 
will  interfere  with  our  petition  to  you. 

We  were  added  to  the  other  petition  when  it  was 
held  over  for  a  year.  We  withdrew  and  desire  a 
Chapter  of  the  Kappa  Sigma  instead. 


Previous  Activities. 


39 


I  thought  it  best  to  explain  this  matter,  so  that  you 
would  see  our  previous  condition. 

Will  send  on  petition  as  soon  as  Westbrook  returns. 
Yours  very  truly, 

Tom  C.  Daniels. 

In  The  Caduceus  of  January,  1893,  appeared 
the  following  by  Herbert  M.  Martin : 

Immediately  after  the  Conclave  in  October,  the  S. 

E.  C.  were  informed  by  Bro.  Fred  Harper  (Z),  who 
was  formerly  a  student  at  Trinity,  that  several  of 
his  most  intimate  friends  there  were  desirous  of  enter- 
ing K.  S.  and  reviving  the  Chapter  which  had  existed 
there  from  1873-1879.  The  men  were  communicated 
with  and  in  due  time  a  petition  was  forwarded  to  the 
S.  E.  C,  bearing  the  signatures  of  Thomas  Cowper 
Daniels,  Frank  Bettis  Davis,  David  Anderson  Hous- 
ton, and  Frank  Gibbons  Westbrook,  who  were  prop- 
erly recommended  and  vouched  for  by  Bro.  Harper. 
The  Supreme  Executive  Committee,  being  satisfied 
that  the  petitioners  were  worthy  and  well  qualified  to 
become  men  of  the  fraternity,  .  .  .  granted  the 
petition,  and  accordingly  on  November  30th  issued  a 
duplicate  to  the  original  charter,  which  bore  the  name 
of  Thomas  Taylor,  A.  R.  Wortham,  N.  H.  Tucker,  P. 

F.  Hines,  George  D.  Tysor  and  William  P.  Mercer, 
and  date  of  February  3,  1873. 

I  wired  Trinity  that  I  would  be  there  on  December 
1st.  I  was  met  in  Greensboro  by  Brother  W.  W.  Mor- 
ris, '92,  of  Delta,  and  together  we  journeyed  on  to 
Durham,  where  we  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the 
prospective  members. 

Bro.  J.  D.  McDowell  came  over  from  Davidson  Col- 
lege on  the  noon  train,  and  we  found  ourselves  three 
strong,  and  fully  capable  of  handling  the  "goats,"  even 


40 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


though  three  of  them  were  football  players,  and  con- 
sequently men  of  considerable  size. 

We  were  fortunate  in  securing  the  hall  of  the 
Knights  of  Pythias  for  the  initiation,  and  six  stalwart 
knights  were  ushered  through  the  XXXXXX,  there 
having  been  added  to  the  four  petitioners  two  others, 
Luther  Thompson  Hartsell,  '94,  and  Sterling  Black- 
well  Pierce,  '95. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  introduce  to  the  fraternity 
the  revived  Eta  Prime,  and  I  am  sure  a  cordial  wel- 
come awaits  the  Chapter  at  the  hands  of  all. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  fraternity  this 
Chapter  was  not  considered  sub  rosa,  as  the  chap- 
ter letter  appeared  regularly  in  The  Caduceus, 


SEMI=SUB  ROSA  of  the  Chapter  was  preserved 


of  the  general  body  of  students  the,  existence  of 
the  Chapter  was  sub  rosa.  Even  the  latter  state- 
ment needs  qualification,  for  after  a  short  while 
the  suspicion  became  prevalent  of  the  existence  of 
Greek  letter  fraternities  in  college.  As  time 
passed  on  this  suspicion  grew  into  a  certainty  and 
finally  into  actual  knowledge.  At  this  time  a 
chapter  of  Alpha  Tau  Omega  was  also  living  in 
college,  their  chapter  having  been  revived  at  Old 
Trinity  in  1890.  It  was  commonly  understood 
among  students  and  Faculty  that  both  Kappa 
Sigma  and  Alpha  Tau  Omega  had  chapters  in 
Trinity  College. 


and  no  secrecy  of  the  existence 


STATUS  OF 
FRATERNITIES 


by  the  S.  E.  C.  But  from  the 
'standpoint  of  the  college  and 


Semi-Sub  Rosa  Status  of  Fraternities.  41 

However,  one  phase  of  the  fraternity  life  at 
Trinity  was  strictly  sub  rosa.  This  was  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  members.  Only  one  member  of 
Eta  Prime  wore  the  badge,  and  this  was  Daniels. 
He  was  a  post-graduate  at  this  time,  and  was,  of 
course,  at  liberty  to  wear  the  emblem.  But  no 
other  member  of  the  Chapter  made  himself 
known  as  such,  and  hence,  membership  was 
strictly  secret.  Of  course,  under  such  conditions 
there  was  much  curiosity  among  the  students  as 
to  who  the  Greek  letter  men  were,  but  the  mys- 
tery remained  unsolved. 

A  good  example  of  how  faithfully  this  feature 
was  preserved  is  found  in  the  following  episode, 
which  occurred  in  the  spring  of  1893 :  Samuel 
W.  Sparger  had  been  initiated  into  Kappa  Sigma 
in  April,  1893,  and  sometime  during  the  same 
session  Ernest  J.  Green  had  been  initiated  into 
Alpha  Tau  Omega.  Both  were  members  of  the 
Freshman  Class  and  warm  personal  friends,  but 
neither  knew  that  the  other  was  a  fraternity  man. 
Soon  after  Sparger's  initiation  a  jeweler  came 
to  Durham,  and  Sparger  purchased  a  badge, 
but  kept  it  in  his  trunk  almost  all  the  time.  One 
day  a  short  time  before  commencement  Sparger 
and  Green  were  going  down-town  together,  and 
the  conversation  drifted  to  the  much  discussed 
question  of  the  existence  of  fraternities  in  col- 
lege. Both  hesitated  to  confess  any  definite 
knowledge  on  the  subject,  but  suddenly  by  a  sort 


42  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


of  mental  telepathy  each  suspected  the  other,  and 
by  common  consent  each  produced  from  his 
pocket  a  fraternity  badge,  one  a  Star  and  Cres- 
cent, the  other  a  Maltese  Cross. 

Another  episode  occurred  during  the  same 
session  which  shows  how  the  President  of  the 
college  and  the  Faculty  were  cognizant  of  condi- 
tions. One  day  a  member  of  Kappa  Sigma,  upon 
returning  to  his  room,  found  an  envelope  under 
his  door  containing  a  notice  to  appear  at  the 
President's  office.  This  was  the  method  then 
used  by  the  President  to  signify  to  a  student  his 
desire  for  a  conference  with  him.  Upon  receiv- 
ing this  summons  the  student  went  to  the  office 
where  President  Crowell  took  him  to  task  for  a 
very  trivial  affair.  The  student  made  a  satisfac- 
tory explanation  and  was  about  to  leave,  suppos- 
ing the  interview  at  an  end,  whereupon  the  presi- 
dent said: 

"Well,  one  moment,  please.  Are  you  a  mem- 
ber of  any  Greek  letter  fraternity?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  after  a  momentary  hesitation. 

"Of  what  fraternity  are  you  a  member?" 

"Kappa  Sigma,"  answered  the  student. 

"Who  are  the  other  members  of  this  frater- 
nity?" asked  the  President. 

"I  cannot  tell  you  this,  sir,  as  I  do  not  care  for 
them  to  become  known." 

"Do  you  not  know,  Mr.  — — ,  that  it  is  the 


Semi-Sub  Rosa  Status  of  Fraternities.  43 

spirit  of  Trinity  College  not  to  allow  the  exist- 
ence of  secret  fraternities?" 

"Yes,  sir,  but  the  existence  seems  to  be  no 
secret." 

"Well,  if  I  ask  you  to  resign  from  this  frater- 
nity, will  you  comply?" 
"No,  sir." 

"Well,  sir,  I  will  bring  this  matter  before  the 
Board  of  Trustees  at  their  next  meeting,  and  it 
is  possible  that  your  resignation  from  college 
will  be  demanded,  unless  you  resign  from  the 
fraternity.    In  this  case  what  will  you  do?" 

"I  shall  resign  from  the  college,  sir." 

With  this  the  President  sought  to  draw  out  the 
freshman  concerning  the  object  of  the  existence 
of  the  chapter.  Not  being  eminently  successful, 
he  exclaimed: 

"Oh,  I  was  a  member  of  a  secret  society  at 
Yale,  I  know  your  purpose.  You  exist  to  have 
your  secret  blow-outs,  feeds,  banquets,  and  wine 
suppers." 

The  student  then  told  the  President  that,  while 
no  doubt,  in  his  society  at  Yale  such  customs 
were  followed,  in  Trinity  College  Chapter  of 
Kappa  Sigma  no  such  features  were  tolerated,  or 
ever  had  been  tolerated. 

In  fact,  the  Chapter  at  that  time  had  a  by-law 
which  forbade  any  member  to  come  into  the 
chapter  hall  under  the  influence  of  intoxicants, 
or  with  any  upon  his  person.    A  fine  of  $5.00 


44    .       Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


was  imposed  for  any  offense  even  to  the  extent 
of  a  brother's  having  a  flask  in  his  pocket.  It  is 
also  a  matter  of  fact  that  this  rule  was  carried 
out  literally,  and  only  once  was  there  any  ap- 
proach to  its  violation.  This  was  in  the  case  of 
a  visiting  brother  who,  upon  approaching  the 
chapter  hall,  made  it  known  that  he  had  a  flask 
of  liquor  in  his  pocket,  and  accordingly,  before 
he  was  allowed  to  enter,  he  was  compelled  to 
leave  it  behind. 

As  time  went  on,  however,  the  secrecy  of  the 
membership  in  Greek  letter  fraternities  could  not 
be  kept.    In  1894,  Dr.  John  C.  Kilgo  became 


standing  students  as  well  as  fraternity  activity, 
was  soon  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  frater- 
nity situation.  On  June  3,  1893,  a  sister  chapter, 
Alpha-Mu,  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
had  been  established,  the  charter  members  being 
initiated  in  the  Knights  of  Pythias  Hall  at  Dur- 
ham, with  Eta  Prime  men  for  sole  sponsors.  The 
active  members  for  that  session,  1892-93,  the 
first  session  of  the  revived  Eta  Prime,  were 
twelve  in  number,  and  they  all  participated  in 
the  ceremonies  of  this  occasion.  Alpha  Tau 
Omega  also  had  a  chapter  at  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  and  it  became  quite  customary 
for  the  members  of  these  chapters  to  come  to 


ESTABLISH- 
MENT  OF 
ALPHA=MU 


president  of  the  college.  He 
himself  is  a  member  of  Kappa 
Alpha  (Southern),  and,  under- 


Establishment  of  Alpha-Mu.  45 

Durham,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles,  periodically 
for  the  purpose  of  meeting  with  their  respective 
"bunches"  at  Trinity.  Since  Dr.  Kilgo  is  a  man 
of  keen  perception,  these  visible  signs  of  frater- 
nity activity  were  not  lost  upon  him. 

President  Kilgo,  although  understanding  the 
situation  thoroughly,  did  not  consider  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Greek  letter  chapters  legal,  as  the 
spirit  incident  to  the  anti-fraternity  agitation  at 
Trinity,  in  1879,  still  determined  the  attitude  of 
the  college  towards  Greek  letter  societies.  From 
this  standpoint  the  fraternities  were  still  sub  rosa, 
and  his  idea  was  that  any  fraternity  was  sub  rosa, 
whether  it  did  or  did  not  proclaim  itself  publicly, 
so  long  as  it  was  existing  contrary  to  the  spirit 
of  the  college,  or  so  long  as  it  was  not  officially 
recognized  by  the  college.  Things  went  on  in  this 
manner  while  Dr.  Kilgo  kept  close  watch  on  all 
movements. 

At  Commencement  of  1900,  Dr.  Kilgo  was 
unwell,  so  the  Board  of  Trustees  met  in  his 
private  study  at  his  residence  on  the  campus. 
On  this  Board  of  Trustees  were  several  frater- 
nity men,  some  of  whom  were  A.  T.  O.'s,  and 
two  Kappa  Sigmas.  The  Kappa  Sigmas  were 
Rev.  Thomas  Neal  Ivey,  79,  and  Dr.  Edmund 
Thomas  White,  '78.  It  appears  from  the  events 
that  actually  took  place  that  the  A.  T.  O.  Chapter 
had  planned  for  a  banquet  at  this  Commencement. 
Many  of  the  alumni  were  informed  and  appeared 


46 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


for  the  occasion.  Of  course,  this  intention  on 
the  part  of  the  A.  T.  O.  Chapter  was  not  sup- 
posed to  be  publicly  known.  But  Dr.  Kilgo  had 
fully  divined  their  purpose.   Accordingly,  in  the 


brought  up.  At  this  juncture  the  President  of 
the  college  took  the  floor.  He  stated  to  the  Board 
that  their  position  was  fallacious  on  this  subject. 
He  reminded  them  that  the  Trustees  were  sup- 
posed to  have  placed  fraternities  under  a  ban  at 
Trinity,  that  they  met  year  by  year  in  the  knowl- 
edge that  secret  Greek  orders  existed  in  the  col- 
lege, and  did  nothing  to  relieve  the  situation;  he 
further  stated  that  several  members  of  the  Board 
itself  were  about  to  disregard  the  very  rules 
which  they  themselves  were  supposed  to  sanction. 
He  told  them  that,  while  they  were  in  attend- 
ance upon  this  meeting,  their  dress  suits  were 
cleaned,  pressed  and  lay  waiting  in  their  suit- 
cases to  be  donned  that  night  for  the  purpose  of 
attending  a  fraternity  banquet  in  the  college. 
This  remark  caused  general  laughter. 

President  Kilgo  then  proceeded  to  state  to  the 
Board  his  personal  position  in  the  matter.  He 
said  that  he  himself  was  a  member  of  a  Greek 
letter  fraternity  and  that  for  him  to  enforce 
rigidly  an  anti- fraternity  policy  would  be  incon- 


ACTION  OF 
BOARD  OF 
TRUSTEES 


course  of  events  in  the  session 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  the 
question  of  the  existence  of 
fraternities  in  the  college  was 


Action  of  Board  of  Trustees.  47 

sistent  on  his  part  as  he  saw  it ;  that  to  carry  out 
such  a  policy  conscientiously  he  would  feel  com- 
pelled to  give  up  his  fraternity  association, — a 
thing  which  he  said  he  did  not  intend  to  do.  He 
then  made  the  motion  before  the  meeting  to  with- 
draw the  policy  of  opposition  to  secret  orders. 
This  motion  was  passed. 

Thus  the  Commencement  of  1900  is  the  date  of 
the  official  reestablishment  of  Eta  Prime  Chapter 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  college.  From  this 
until  the  present  time  Kappa  Sigma  and  other 
secret  orders  have  enjoyed  the  recognition  of  the 
college  authorities.  Upon  such  organizations  no 
great  number  of  iron-bound  restrictions  or  cur- 
tailment of  privileges  is  placed.  The  first  re- 
quirement of  any  organization  at  Trinity  Col- 
lege is  to  have  a  worthy  object  and  secondly  to 
obey  such  rules  as  are  passed  for  its  own  good 
by  the  authorities  in  control.  And  never  since 
the  dawning  of  this  new  century  has  secrecy  been 
considered  a  collegiate  crime  or  held  as  a  bar  to 
the  attainment  of  a  worthy  object  at  this  institu- 
tion. 

In  accordance  with  their  intentions,  the  Alpha 
Tau  Omega  held  their  banquet  that  commence- 
ment at  the  Carrolina  Hotel.  As  the  action  of 
the  Trustees  was  taken,  so  to  speak,  at  the 
eleventh  hour,  there  was  no  time  for  a  fraternity 
which  had  not  already  made  its  arrangements  to 
have  a  banquet.    Hence  Kappa  Sigma  did  not 


48  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


make  its  official  "debut"  uxTtil  the  following 
commencement,  at  which  time  she  gave  her  first 
banquet  under  the  new  regime.  Since  that  time 
Eta  Prime  has  never  failed  to  hold  her  annual 
banquet  during  the  last  week  of  the  college  ses- 
sion. 

As  soon  as  it  was  publicly  known  that  anti- 
fraternity  restrictions  were  removed,  Trinity  Col- 
lege was  at  once  considered  a  good  field  for  chap- 
ters of  other  orders.  Accord- 
NEW  ARRIVALS  ingly  the  following  year  two 
new  Greek  letter  chapters  were 
founded.  Kappa  Alpha  (Southern)  was  estab- 
lished on  October  18,  1901,  and  Pi  Kappa  Alpha 
on  November  30,  1901.  No  opposition  was  felt 
towards  these,  as  both  of  the  older  chapters  felt 
that  there  was  room  for  other  societies  of  like 
order  at  Trinity.  During  the  next  session,  1902- 
03,  a  Junior  order  called  the  "Tombs"  was  organ- 
ized, which  is  of  peculiar  interest  to  Eta  Prime, 
inasmuch  as  one  of  her  men,  Lemuel  Hardy  Gib- 
bons, '04,  wrote  almost  its  entire  ritual.  This 
society,  presumably,  was  designed  to  level,  in 
the  general  round  of  college  life,  all  real  or  im- 
aginary barriers  between  fraternity  and  non-fra- 
ternity men,  and  for  purposes  of  good  fellow- 
ship. The  "Tombs"  has  maintained  a  high  and 
distinctive  standing  in  the  college  community. 

After  official  recognition  of  fraternities  by  the 
Trustees,  Eta  Prime  continued  very  active.  The 


Beta-Upsilon. 


49 


following  year  a  neighboring  college,  the  North 
Carolina  College  of  Agricul- 
BETA=UPSILON  ture  and  Mechanical  Arts,  peti- 
tioned the  S.  E.  C.  for  a  char- 
ter from  Kappa  Sigma.  This  charter  was 
granted,  and  on  February  23,  1903,  nine  mem- 
bers of  Eta  Prime  went  to  Raleigh,  N.  C,  where 
the  A.  &  M.  College  is  situated,  and  were  spon- 
sors at  the  installation  of  the  new  chapter  under 
the  name  of  Beta-Upsilon.  The  existence  of 
Beta-Upsilon  and  Alpha-Mu  gives  Eta  Prime  two 
near  neighbors  and  the  very  best  of  brotherly 
feeling  has  always  marked  their  relationship. 

It  cannot  be  said  with  exactness  that  the  exist- 
ence of  the  fraternities  at  Trinity  College  has 
been  altogether  unmolested  by  any  anti- fraternity 


nity  men  has  shown  itself,  although  this  feeling 
has  pervaded  the  general  student  body  in  only  a 
few  instances.  Peace  between  the  two  elements 
has  reigned,  indeed,  most  of  the  time.  An  ex- 
ample of  the  general  status  of  affairs  is  given 
by  the  following  statement  of  a  former  student: 
"When  I  entered  Trinity  College  in  the  fall  of 
1903,  there  was  some  anti-frat  feeling  percep- 
tible. I  did  not  join  a  fraternity  until  the  spring 
term.    During  the  period  between  the  time  I 


NON=FRATER= 
NITY  ACTIVITIES 


activity,  for  at  different  times 
more  or  less  friction  between 
the  fraternity  and  non-frater- 


4 


50  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 

entered  college  and  the  time  I  joined  the  frater- 
nity, I  was  approached  by  two  or  three  non-fra- 
ternity men,  on  different  occasions,  who  solicited 
my  vote  as  a  member  of  the  Freshman  Class  and 
as  a  member  of  one  of  the  literary  societies. 
They  stated  to  me  that  I  should  not  vote  for  any 
fraternity  man,  since  I  was  not  one  of  them,  and 
sometimes  they  gave  other  reasons." 

One  Sunday  morning  in  October,  1904,  there 
were  found  distributed  about  the  campus,  espe- 
cially in  the  Duke  Building,  a  number  of  anony- 
mous circulars  of  white  glazed  paper,  about 
nine  by  sixteen  inches  in  size,  on  which  was 
printed  a  very  bitter  attack  against  the  fraterni- 
ties. An  adequate  idea  of  this  circular  can  be 
gained  from  its  head  lines  given  below : 

THE  CORRUPTION  IN  THE  FRATERNITIES 

AT  TRINITY  COLLEGE. 
The  Low  Nature  of  These  Fraternities.  The 
good-for'nothingness  of  their  members.  they 
Try  to  Predominate  with  Their  United  Force  Both 
Socially  and  Politically.  Social  Distinction  Their 
Purpose,  but  Licentiousness  Their  End.  They  Re- 
form Their  Drunkards  by  Giving  Them  Wine  to 
Drink  at  Their  Receptions.  Other  Colleges  Have 
Discarded  Them.  Dr.  Kilgo  Expresses  Sentiment 
Against  Them. 

This  circular  of  protest  was  supposed  to  have 
been  printed  at  Raleigh  during  the  State  Fair. 
The  writer  or  writers  were  never  found  out 
with  certainty,  since  every  precaution  had  been 


Non-Fraternity  Activities. 


51 


taken  to  conceal  their  identity.  Of  course,  some 
degree  of  excitement  followed  from  the  reading 
of  these  circulars  by  the  student  body,  and  a  few- 
rash  statements  were  made  by  some  of  the  fra- 
ternity men,  but  on  further  consideration  they 
decided  that  it  was  better  "to  treat  it  with  silent 
contempt."  It  is  certain  that  the  student  body 
did  not  sanction  the  contents  of  this  circular,  for 
they  immediately  called  a  meeting  and  passed 
resolutions  denouncing  the  author  and  the  spirit 
of  the  circular.  Dr.  Kilgo,  during  the  following 
week,  took  occasion  to  state  to  each  of  the  Bible 
classes,  which  were  the  only  classes  he  taught, 
that  the  publishing  of  such  a  paper  without  sign- 
ing it  was  a  cowardly  act,  that  he  hoped  he 
would  never  know  the  author,  and  that  one 
thing  was  quite  certain  that  when  a  chapter  had 
an  unworthy  member  no  one  was  more  conscious 
of  it  than  the  chapter  itself.  In  the  wake  of  the 
above  related  incidents  there  followed  more  har- 
mony than  ever  between  the  two  elements  in 
college.  No  expression  to  confirm  the  spirit  of 
the  circular  ever  came  to  light  till  the  whole  epi- 
sode was  forgotten. 

After  the  "circular"  episode,  as  has  been  re- 
lated, there  was  a  reaction.  One  form  of  this  is 
noticeable  in  the  general  fraternity  feeling  which 


52 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


THETA  NU 
EPSILON 


seemed  generally  to  take  root. 
Unconfirmed  reports  were  fre- 
quent of  other  Greek  orders 


entering  college.  Many  believed  that  these  were 
being  chartered  and  were  existing  sub  rosa.  It 
was  a  matter  of  weekly  occurrence  for  it  to  be 
whispered  that  such  and  such  a  club  or  "bunch" 
had  petitioned  some  fraternity  or  other.  There 
is  no  reasonable  doubt  that  there  were  petitions 
for  charters  at  this  time,  but  up  to  the  present 
there  has  been  only  one  evidence  that  any  were 
ever  granted.  This  was  in  the  case  of  Theta  Nu 
Epsilon.  During  the  session  of  1905-06  it  became 
evident  that  Theta  Nu  Epsilon  would  enter  col- 
lege. It  is  probable  that  men  were  bid  from  all 
four  of  the  general  fraternities,  Alpha  Tau 
Omega,  Kappa  Alpha,  Pi  Kappa  Alpha  and 
Kappa  Sigma.  In  the  case  of  Kappa  Sigma  it  is  a 
matter  of  fact.  But  in  compliance  with  the  reso- 
lution passed  at  the  St.  Louis  Conclave,  1904,  no 
Kappa  Sigma  accepted  this  invitation.  As  both 
Alpha  Tau  Omega  and  Kappa  Alpha  have  simi- 
lar regulations,  the  membership  of  the  new  chap- 
ter was  confined  to  Pi  Kappa  Alphas  and  non- 
fraternity  men.  The  chapter  was  short-lived. 
As  far  as  it  is  known  no  one  was  ever  invited  into 
the  new  chapter  after  its  establishment.  There  is 
good  reason  to  believe  that  the  Faculty,  after 
looking  into  Theta  Nu  Epsilon  fully,  advised  the 
charter  members  not  to  initiate  any  more  men. 


Meetings  of  District  IV. 


53 


No  doubt  the  first  few  days  of  February  each 
year  are  of  more  interest  to  the  fraternity  men 
at  Trinity  College  than  any  other  part  of  the 
year,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Commence- 
ment. Initiation  of  first  year  students  before  the 
first  of  February  has  been  prohibited  by  the  col- 
lege authorities  since  September,  1903.  Our 
Chapter  has  always  had  a  number  of  new  men 
to  initiate  about  the  first  of  February  each  year. 

These  annual  initiations  have  been  made  part 
of  the  features  of  District  IV's  annual  meetings. 
The  idea  of  these  meetings  at  Durham  was  sug- 
gested to  Eta  Prime  by  Bro. 
MEETINGS  OF      Hugh  T;  Shockley,  in  the  fall 

DISTRICT  IV  r  innc      u  1  •      *  *u 

of  1905,  while  on  a  visit  to  this 

Chapter.  The  members  of  the  Chapter  were 
eager  to  have  this  idea  developed  into  a  real  thing 
of  success,  and  accordingly  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  make  arrangements  for  the  same.  The  first 
meeting  of  District  IV  was  held  in  the  Knights 
of  Pythias  Hall  on  February  3,  1906.  Besides 
the  members  of  Eta  Prime  and  the  Durham, 
Concord,  and  Kinston  Alumni,  there  were  pres- 
ent Herbert  M.  Martin,  W.  G.  S. :  Stanley  W. 
Martin,  W.  G.  T. ;  Hugh  T.  Shockley,  D.  G.  M. 
of  District  IV,  and  several  representatives  from 
Beta-Upsilon,  Alpha-Mu,  Delta,  and  Alpha-Nu. 
The  morning  session  of  the  meeting  was  a  busi- 
ness one,  during  which  reports  were  read  from 
each  chapter  of  the  District,  questions  of  interest 


54  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


were  discussed  by  the  D.  G.  M.  and  others,  and 
much  sound  advice  was  given  by  the  members  of 
the  S.  E.  C.  who  were  present.  In  the  after- 
noon the  visiting  brothers  were  shown  about  the 
city  of  Durham  and  Trinity  College,  until  the 
initiation  began  about  six  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. This  initiation  was  conducted  by  a  picked 
team  of  alumni  and  the  D.  G.  M.  Just  after  the 
initiation  a  flashlight  photograph  of  those  present 
was  taken.  The  meeting  then  adjourned  to  the 
Carrolina  Hotel,  where  an  excellent  banquet  was 
served,  toasts  were  given,  and  hearty  yells  and 
songs  were  indulged  in. 

The  history  of  the  meetings  of  District  IV  in 
1907  and  1908  is  more  or  less  a  repitition  of  the 
history  of  1906,  except  that  to  each  meeting  some 
new  feature  has  been  added  and  each  has  had  the 
advantage  over  the  previous  one  in  enthusiasm 
and  results  obtained.  A  minute  account  of  these 
district  meetings  can  be  found  in  the  files  of  The  • 
Caduceus  and  in  the  Eta  Prime  scrap-book.  On 
account  of  the  central  location  of  our  college  and 
the  conveniences  of  the  city  of  Durham,  it  has 
been  easier  for  these  meetings  to  be  held  with 
Eta  Prime  than  with  any  other  chapter  of  the 
District,  and  the  members  of  the  Chapter  have 
always  been  glad  to  try  their  utmost  to  make 
these  meetings  a  success  in  every  particular. 

Although  Eta  Prime  has  always  been  accus- 
tomed to  communicate  by  letters  with  certain  of 


Letters  to  Alumni. 


55 


her  alumni  at  various  intervals,  in  accordance 


tember,  1905,  the  Chapter  has  issued  a  circular 
letter  to  her  alumni  every  session  since,  and  in- 
cluding that  of  1905-06.  The  first  letter,  dated 
April  2,  1906,  contains  among  other  things  an 
announcement  of  the  first  meeting  of  District  IV 
which  had  just  been  held.  These  letters  have 
made  the  active  Chapter  feel  a  closer  relationship 
to  her  alumni.  In  fact,  the  effect  of  these  letters 
in  this  regard  has  been  reciprocal,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  custom  of  sending  them  out  has 
become  well  enough  established  to  endure. 

One  of  the  chief  events  of  fraternity  life  at 
Trinity  College  is  the  annual  banquet  held  during 
Commencement  week.    All  the  fraternities  look 


more  or  less  rivalry  among  the  fraternities  at 
this  time.  Commencement  is  the  gala  week  at 
Trinity.  Prominent  public  speakers  are  pro- 
cured for  this  occasion,  and  the  college  is  practi- 
cally given  over  to  numerous  social  events  and 
other  exercises.  Many  of  the  alumni  of  the 
college  return  at  this  time  to  participate  in  one  or 
more  of  the  events,  and  in  the  bringing  back  of 
the  alumni  at  Commencement  the  fraternity  ban- 


LETTERS  TO 
ALUMNI 


with  the  resolutions  passed  by 
the  S.  E.  C.  and  published  in 
The  Star  and  Crescent  of  Sep- 


COMMENCE- 
ME  NT  BAN- 
QUETS 


forward  to  this  occasion  as  the 
Clowning  feature  of  the  col- 
lege year,  and  there  is  always 


56  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


quets  play  no  small  part.  The  college  authorities 
appreciate  and  encourage  the  work  of  the  fra- 
ternities and  look  on  the  annual  banquets  with 
favor. 

The  custom  of  holding  annual  banquets  began 
at  the  Commencement  of  1900.  From  1892  to 
1900  the  Alpha  Tau  Omega  and  Kappa  Sigma 
fraternities  existed  at  Trinity  College  in  a  semi- 
sub  rosa  state,  and  in  the  latter  year  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  college  removed  the  ban 
from  these  organizations.  As  has  been  said,  the 
Alpha  Tau  Omega  had  previously  arranged  to 
have  a  banquet  that  year.  Eta  Prime  gave  her 
first  banquet  at  Commencement,  1901.  Brother 
Samuel  W.  Sparger  was  the  manager  of  this 
happy  occasion.  The  banquet  was  a  great  suc- 
cess. Each  succeeding  banquet  has  been  well 
appointed  in  every  respect  and  Eta  Prime  feels 
that  she  has  always  been  unsurpassed  on  such 
occasions.  The  loyal  alumni  of  our  Chapter  have 
always  shown  a  disposition  to  be  liberal  with 
their  contributions,  and  to  favor  these  occasions* 
with  their  presence  and  oratory. 

Eta  Prime  gives  her  banquet  each  Commence- 
ment on  Monday  night.  Before  the  Carrolina 
Hotel  was  destroyed  by  fire,  May  1,  1907,  the 
banquet  was  always  given  there.  At  the  Com- 
mencement of  that  year,  through  the  kindness  of 
Miss  Anne  Roney,  Fair  View,  the  residence  of 


K  H".  r 


CTQ 


3 

> 
H 

»  o 

ja  C 
C 
T 


Commencement  Banquets.  57 


the  late  Washington  Duke,  was  thrown  open  to 
the  Chapter  for  the  banquet. 

There  are  always  about  thirty-five  couples  in 
attendance  at  these  banquets,  besides  one  or  more 
members  invited  from  the  Faculty  and  several 
other  invited  guests.  Many  brother  Kappa  Sig- 
mas,  and  young  ladies  from  all  parts  of  the  State 
have  always  enjoyed  these  banquets  with  us. 
Representatives  from  Alpha-Mu,  Beta-Upsilon, 
and  Delta  have  been  present  on  many  of  these 
occasions. 

In  1904,  four  of  the  sophomores  of  the  Chap- 
ter were  suspended  from  the  college  just  before 
Commencement  for  engaging  in  a  hazing  episode 
in  which  a  sophomore  was  shot  and  seriously 
injured  by  a  freshman.  The  absence  of  these 
men  was  noticeable  at  the  banquet,  since  their 
aid  as  escorts  was  needed  badly. 

The  banquet  of  1906  was  perhaps  the  most 
costly  and  elaborate  in  the  history  of  the  Chap- 
ter. The  Board  of  Trustees  saw  fit  in  1907  to 
place  a  limit  on  the  cost  of  the  banquets,  and 
especially  on  the  cost  of  favors.  A  committee 
was  appointed  from  the  Faculty  to  consult  with 
representatives  from  the  four  fraternities  in 
order  to  get  an  idea  of  what  a  conservative  ban- 
quet should  cost.  This  was  done  and  a  limit 
was  promptly  placed  on  the  fraternities  in  this 
regard.  Eta  Prime  has  no  desire  to  evade  these 
regulations  in  any  way,  but  she  endeavors  to  keep 


58  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


the  annual  banquet  up  to  the  high  standard 
handed  down  by  the  old  men. 

A  better  idea  of  these  banquets  is  furnished 
by  the  following  clipping,  which  is  a  part  of  an 
account  from  one  of  the  State  papers,  The  Char- 
lotte Daily  Observer,  of  June  9,  1907 : 

"The  Kappa  Sigma  banquet  was  given  at  Fair 
View,  the  beautiful  and  hospitable  home  of  Miss 
Anne  Roney,  on  West  Main  street,  Durham, 
N.  C.  The  lawn  about  the  house  was  decorated 
in  very  artistic  style  with  Japanese  lanterns  and 
red,  white  and  green  electric  lights,  these  colors 
being  those  of  the  Fraternity.  Inside  the  home 
the  color  scheme  was  also  well  carried  out,  and 
the  streamers  of  crepe  paper  arranged  artisti- 
cally about  the  doors,  the  walls  and  chandeliers 
made  a  pretty  scheme.  The  entire  first  floor  was 
thrown  into  one  apartment  and  a  merry  throng 
of  brave  young  men  and  lovely  young  women 
filled  every  nook  and  corner. 

"The  banquet  table  extended  the  length  of  the 
hall  and  dining  room  with  cross  sections  extend- 
ing into  the  music  room  and  drawing  room. 
American  beauties,  red  and  white  carnations, 
sweet  peas  and  smilax  were  the  chief  decorations, 
making  the  table  a  veritable  'thing  of  beauty/ 
The  menu  cards  were  enclosed  in  dainty  lizard 
skin  card  cases  with  the  Kappa  Sigma  Caduceus, 
done  in  gilt,  on  them.  Miniature  Dresden  china 
pianos  contained  bonbons  and  also  represented 


Commencement  Banquets. 


59 


the  harmony  of  the  occasion.  Banks  of  palms, 
ferns  and  roses,  and  other  cut  flowers  filled  every 
corner,  and  the  whole  scene  was  one  of  rare  love- 
liness. Dughi,  of  Raleigh,  served  the  banquet. 
Rev.  T.  A.  Smoot,  pastor  of  Main  Street  Method- 
ist Church,  presided  as  toast  master,  and  did  it 
in  his  usual  entertaining  way.  The  following 
were  the  toasts  responded  to :  'Eta  Prime,'  L.  G. 
White,  of  Portsmouth,  Va.;  'The  Ladies,'  T. 
W.  Smith,  Jr.,  of  Petersburg,  Va. ;  'What  Kappa 
Sigma  Means,'  Prof.  A.  H.  Meritt,  Professor  of 
Greek,  Trinity  College.  Impromptus  were  given 
by  J.  E.  Pegram,  G.  G.  Greever  and  several 
others.  Soon  the  wee  small  hours  arrived,  and 
after  each  had  given  a  toast  to  the  kind  hearted 
and  hospitable  hostess,  Miss  Roney,  the  guests 
departed." 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  give  a  complete  out- 
line of  the  various  activities  of  each  member  of 
the  Chapter  while  in  college,  or  since  leaving  his 
Alma  Mater,  and  hence  such  a  thing  is  not  under- 
taken, but  we  are  sure  that  a  record  of  these 
men  will  compare  very  favorably  with  a  record 
of  any  like  number  who  have  been  connected  with 
the  college.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  no  one  of 
Eta  Prime's  initiates  has  ever  been  expelled  or 
has  withdrawn  from  the  Fraternity.  In  all,  the 
Chapter  has  graduated  forty-four  men,  twenty 
in  the  old  Eta  Chapter  and  twenty-four  in  the 
new  Eta  Prime.    Some  of  the  older  members 


60 


Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


have  sent  boys  to  college  who  have  become  Kappa 
Sigmas  in  the  new  Chapter.  The  members  have 
always  shared  in  all  the  honors  of  the  different 
phases  of  college  life — in  the  literary  societies, 
honorary  societies,  clubs,  college  publications, 
athletic  teams,  class  offices,  and  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
We  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  our  men 
have  attained  success  of  which  we  are  justly 
proud.  Not  only  is  this  true  of  the  men  while  in 
college,  but  today  throughout  the  South,  and 
especially  in  North  Carolina,  these  men  are  keep- 
ing up  their  excellent  records.  We  find  them  as 
physicians,  judges,  lawyers,  legislators,  college 
professors,  newspaper  men,  bankers,  business 
men  and  leaders  in  their  respective  communities. 
We  find  them  doing  their  share  in  making  the 
world  a  better  place,  not  only  for  Kappa  Sigmas, 
but  also  for  mankind  in  general. 


CHAPTER  ROLL 


Name  Initiated  1873  Address 

Thomas  Taylor,  Townesville,  N.  C. 

Adolphus  Eichard  Wortham, 

Died  November  4,  1897. 

Ned  H.  Tucker, 

Died  April  9,  1889. 

George  David  Tysor,  Wadley,  Ga. 

Julius  L.  Holmes, 

Died  ,   

William  Anderson  Thomas,     Bartow,  Ga. 
Thomas  Edward  Kirkpatrick,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 
Rufus  Bascom  Kearns, 

Died  January  4,  1893. 

James  Williamson  Dillon,  Thomasville,  Ga. 

Peter  Edmund  Hines,  Cambridge,  Md. 

William  Parker  Mercer,  Elm  City,  N.  C. 

Edward  Bascom  Claywell,  Morganton,  N.  C. 
James  Lucius  Craven, 

Died  November  12,  1885. 

Sherrod  Thomas  Hall,  Sandersville,  Ga. 

Initiated  1874 

James  F.  Tanner, 

Died  

R.  B.  Barefoot, 

Died   ,   

Herbert  Milton  Barrow,  Concord,  N.  C. 
Herbert  Edmund  Norris,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 
Paul  J.  Carraway, 

Died  January  28,  1900. 

Robert  Henry  Hargrove,        Robertsonville,  N.  C. 


62  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


Name  Initiated  1874  Address 

William  Streety  Hales,  Ansonville,  N.  C. 

John  D.  Hargrove,  Tarboro,  N.  C. 

William  Parsons  Ivey,  Lenoir,  N.  C. 

Charles  North  Mason,  Harlow,  N.  C. 

Edmund  Thomas  White,        Oxford,  N.  C. 

Initiated  1875 
Robert  Oscar  Grant,  Wrightsville,  N.  C. 

Alexander  M.  Long,  Rockingham,  N.  C. 

John  A.  Morgan,  ,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Robert  Paine  Pell,  Spartanburg,  S.  C. 

Martin  T.  Penn,  Floyd,  Va. 

Initiated  1876 
Grandison  Christian  Edwards,  Edwards,  S.  C. 
Yancey  Thomas  Ormond,       Kinston,  N.  C. 
E.  Franklin  DeBerry,  Mt  Gilead,  N.  C. 

Wililam  Haywood  Bobbitt,     Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Initiated  1877 
William  Reynolds  Allen,         Goldsboro,  N.  C. 
Thomas  Wesley  Taylor,  Soudan,  Va. 

Walter  C.  Ingram,  Trinity,  N.  C. 

Died  at  Trinity,  N.  C. 

Thomas  Neal  Ivey,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Frank  Haywood  Taylor,         Aurelian  Springs,  N.  C. 

Died  at  Aurelian  Springs,  N.  C. 

James  A.  Stall ings,  Henderson,  N.  C. 

Died  June  15,  1889. 

William  Throop  Lyon,  Oxford,  N.  C. 

Thomas  Davenport  Wright,    Durham,  N.  C. 

Died  February  25,  1901. 
Initiated  1878 
William  Henry  Nicholson,      Hickory,  N.  C. 
Edwin  Gibbons  Moore,  Elm  City,  N.  C. 

Thomas  Rayburn  Pepper,       Winston,  N.  C. 


Chapter  Roll. 


Name  Initiated  1878  Address 

Dabney  Belvin  Reinhart,        Merrill,  Wis. 
Flether  D.  Biggs,  White's  Springs, 

Died  May  31,  1892. 

B.  H.  Sharpe, 

Died  ,  

Amos  Frederick  Becton,  Kinston,  N.  C. 
Daniel  Elijah  Perry,  Kinston,  N.  G. 

Died  March  27,  1897. 

Benjamin  Franklin  Lane,       Wilson,  N.  C. 

Initiated  1879 
James  Clarence  Fink,  Concord,  N.  C. 


Initiated 
Thomas  Cowper  Daniels, 
Frank  Bettis  Davis, 
David  Anderson  Houston, 
Frank  Gibbons  Westbrook, 
Luther  Thompson  Hartsell, 
Sterling  Blackwell  Pierce, 
John  William  Daniels, 
Albert  Herbert  Bangert, 
James  Walter  Wadsworth, 


1892 

New  Bern,  N.  C. 
Morganton,  N.  C. 
Monroe,  N.  C. 
Bay  View,  N.  C. 
Concord,  N.  C. 
Weldon,  N.  C. 
New  Bern,  N.  C. 
New  Bern,  N.  C. 
Charlotte,  N.  C. 


Initiated  1893 


Braxton  Phifer, 
Samuel  W.  Sparger, 
William  Atlas  Finch, 
James  Franklin  Shinn, 
John  William  McMinn, 
William  Alexander  Green, 
Eugene  Charles  Rountree, 


Fla. 


Little  Rock,  Ark. 
Durham,  N.  C. 
Finch,  N.  C. 
Norwood,  N.  C. 
Brevard,  N.  C. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Kinston,  N.  C. 


Initiated  1894 
Graham  Woodard,  Wilson,  N.  C. 

Paul  Vernon  Anderson,  Morganton,  N.  C. 

Thomas  Hall  Gatlin,  Jr.,       Tarboro,  N.  C. 


64  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


Name  Initiated  1894  Address 

William  Lipsconibe  Dowd,      Columbus,  Ga. 
Thomas  Arthur  Smoot,  Wilmington,  N.  C. 

Initiated  1896 
Wade  Hampton  Anderson,      Wilson,  N.  C. 

Initiated  1897 

John  Patridge  Gibbons,         Wilmington,  N.  C. 
Stephen  Woodard  Anderson,  Wilson,  N.  C. 
George  Leonidas  Lyon,  Durham,  N.  C. 

Robert  Bruce  Etheridge,         Manteo,  N.  C. 

Initiated  1900 
Hugh  Forest  Minis,  Newport,  Tenn. 

Hardy  Fennel  Robinson,  Goldsboro,  N.  0. 

Charles  Augustus  Woodard,    Durham,  X.  C. 
Lemuel  Hardy  Gibbons,         Wilmington,  N.  C. 
Wilson  Grinter  Puryear,         McKenzie,  Tenn. 
Matt  Hicks  Allen,  Kinston,  N.  C. 

Fred  James  Forbes,  Greenville,  X.  C. 

Initiated  1901 
William  Francis  Gill,  Durham,  N.  C. 

James  Addison  Clay  well,        Morganton,  N.  C. 
Haynes  Richard  Mahoney,      Fernandina,  Fla. 
Thomas  Walter  Smith,  Jr.,     Concord,  N.  C. 
Richard  Earl   Jordan,  Durham,  N.  C. 

Lloyd  Sylvester  Daniels,        Wanchese,  N.  C. 
Lawrence  Archdale  Tomlinson,  Durham,  N.  C. 
John  Wesley  Alspaugh,  Jr.,    Winston,  N.  C. 
Daniel  Shuford  Murph,*        Jamison,  S.  C. 

Initiated  1902 

James  Guy  Asbury,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

William  Moseley  Smith,        Concord,  N.  C. 

Died  June  27,  1907. 

Robert  Anderson  Brown,       Raleigh,  N.  C. 


♦Affiliated  from  Alpha-Nu  Chapter. 


Chapter  Roll. 


65 


Name  Initiated  1902  Addrbss 

Charles  Gibbons,  Hamlet,  N.  C. 

Lloyd  Kirby  Wooten,  Kinston,  N.  C. 

William  Archer  Brown,         Concord,  N.  C. 


Initiated 

Henry  Qlay  Carter, 
John  Cooper  Winslow,* 

Initiated 

Gilmer  Korner,  Jr., 

John  Gilmer  Dawson,  Jr., 

Lloyd  Murphy  LaRoque, 

John  Clyde  Bostian, 

John  Reuben  Woodard,  Jr., 

,  Initiated 
James  Willis  Bagby, 
Gustavus  Garland  Greever, 
Emsley  Arm-field, 
John  Mack  Holland, 
William  Alexander  Goodson, 
Initiated 
Leon  McTyeire  Johnston, 
Joe  Albert  Hartsell, 
Thomas  Bayton  Suiter, 
Henry  Lilly  Smith, 
Daniel  Elijah  Perry, 
Edwin  Buchanan  Lyon, 
Luther  Gehrmann  White, 
Charles  Robey  Claywell, 

Initiated 

Romulus  Alonzo  Whitaker,  Jr 
John  Edward  Pegram, 
Samuel  Jenning  Asbury,  Jr., 
George  Alexander  Gray,  Jr., 


1903 

Fairfield,  N.  C. 
Harriman,  Tenn. 

1904 

Kernersville,  N.  C. 
Kinston,  N.  C. 
Kinston,  N.  C. 
Albemarle,  N.  C. 
Fayetteville,  Tenn. 

1905 

Hickory,  N.  C. 
Carthage,  Mo. 
Monroe,  N.  C. 
Gastonia,  N.  C. 
Kinston,  N.  C. 

1906 

Littleton,  N.  C. 
Concord,  N.  C. 
Garysburg,  N.  C. 
Concord,  N.  C. 
Kinston,  N.  C. 
Durham,  N.  C. 
Portsmouth,  Va. 
Morganton,  N.  C. 

1907 

.,  Kinston,  N.  C. 
Durham,  N.  C. 
Charlotte,  N.  0. 
Gastonia,  N.  C. 


♦Affiliated  from  Lambda  Chapter. 


66  Eta  Prime  of  Kappa  Sigma. 


Name  Initiated  1907  Address 

Forrest  Unna  Lake,  Jr.,        Florence,  S.  O. 
Julian  Jay  Lane,  Wilson,  N.  C. 

Lewis  Sneed  Sasser,  Durham,  N.  C. 

Robert  Gaffney  Laney,  Monroe,  N.  C. 

Initiated  1908 
Richard  Montgomery  Norment,  Lumberton,  N.  C. 
Russell  DeLessepp  Korner,     Kernersville,  N.  C. 
Charles  Dowd  Gray, 
Maynard  Preston  Daniels, 
Donald  Furman  Cheatham, 
Thomas  Daniel  Chatham, 
Albert  Sartor  Berghauser, 
Wilbur  Alexander  Mahoney, 


Gastonia,  N.  C. 
Wanchese,  N.  C. 
Norfolk,  Va. 
Elkin,  N.  C. 
Fulton,  Mo. 
Fernandina,  Fla. 


MEMORANDA 


MEMORANDA 


MEMORANDA 


MEMORANDA 


MEMORANDA 


9 


MEMORANDA 


Date  Due 


MAY  2    *  7 


L.  B.  Cat.  No.  1137 


371.855    JLL7T   *a  0#a 

83237 

Jgppa  Sigma  ,tEtaj^nJ 
An  historical  Sketch 


33237 


